


Divinity no more

by Chimera_Cuddles



Category: Supernatural
Genre: After 15 x 19, Chuck Shurley redemption, Chuck is human, Hurt!Chuck, Jack is God, Redemption, chuck shurley - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:55:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27806440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chimera_Cuddles/pseuds/Chimera_Cuddles
Summary: What happens to Chuck Shurley after 15 x 19 when Jack takes his powers?Chuck needs to adapt quickly to a human life, if he ever even makes it down from the lake alive. Will the ex God, creator of everything find redemption or will he reject his new human lifestyle and seek revenge upon those he believes has wronged him?
Comments: 9
Kudos: 20





	1. Chapter 1

Chuck’s trembling hands gripped the sand as gasp after gasp tore through his lungs. Nothing felt the same, his arms weighted him down and his legs felt heavy. Gravity which normally had no effect upon him held him to the ground like pins keeping him in place.  
The sounds of the car had faded away, leaving him totally alone.  
“Guys please” he whimpered, even though he knew they could never hear him. “Don’t leave me”.  
He could feel the breeze in his hair. He could feel the sand grains between his fingers, but he couldn’t sense the elements or the earth turning. He couldn’t feel each grain of the sand he lay upon. He could not feel the birds flying or the fish swimming. It was all gone, his powers taken by his own grandson.  
His heart pounded fast inside his rib cage, the only thing keeping him alive right now. His lungs filled and deflated, and Chuck was overcome by fear. What if his heart were to stop beating this very second? What would happen to him then? Would he go to heaven, to be judged by the angels? Will he end in hell, pulled down by Rowena to be tortured for eternity? Would the Empty come for him, to force him to relive everything he regretted, or would Purgatory be his forever home, forced to run for his very life for ever more. Worse, would it just be nothing, would he just cease to exist, like the Winchesters said. 

“No, no , no, no” Chuck called out, gripping the sand and trying to get up. “I can’t just die. Guys please! Jack…Jack I know you can hear me. We’re family. I’m your grandfather, please I won’t hurt you or the boys, please Jack please, just don’t let me die, please”.  
There was no answer. 

He had managed to sit up. There was a salty taste in his mouth, and he realised tears had been running down his face from when he was panicking. The water suddenly looked really inviting as second by second passed with Chuck’s mouth feeling drier and drier.  
He was thirsty.  
He enjoyed drinks before, but he ever really needed to take any liquid in to preserve his life. Now it felt like his brain was begging him to drink from the lake.  
He tried to get to his feet, but he was so wobbly he had to crawl, adding more sand and dirt to his pants. He climbed clumsily over a log and down to the water. It looked clean enough, even looked blue, but he knew it wasn’t drinkable. All sorts of animals swam and urinated in water; he knew because he had created them to do that.  
He was so thirsty. His brain was screaming. He wanted so badly to quench his thirst.  
He lowered his hand into the water and raised it to his mouth and swallowed. He did it again and again, dribbling water down onto his beard, where it dripped down onto his blazer. He carried on drinking until the feeling of thirst had left him. He felt ashamed of himself and hoped none of the angels were watching. 

He squinted up at the sun, becoming more aware of a problem. He knew he was in North America, he knew what state he was in, but when humanity started expanding, he never had bothered to learn every single place, every road, every tiny town. Why would he when bother when he could be everywhere at the same time.  
He didn’t know which way would lead him to civilisation and the sun was already past the highest point. It would be dark in a few hours and no doubt the Winchesters would have gotten their lap dog Jack to return all the souls and beasts back into the world by now. Chuck knew all sorts of creatures lurked out there in those trees, some that could kill a man. Bears, wolves, anything could be out there. He remembered the day he created them. Big teeth and bigger claws that could tear apart flesh. He thought they would be fun.  
His eyes scanned row after row of trees. They stretched back as far as he could see. There was no way he could cover that before the sun went down. His eyes landed on the fake spell the Winchesters used. If only he hadn’t killed Michael, Chuck could have used him to take out Jack. Michael would have ensured Sam and Dean wouldn’t lay a finger on him. He would still have his powers and wouldn’t be in this mess. He didn’t feel anything for Michael, he was nothing more than a tool that turned on Chuck, he wasn’t the first Michael to do this.  
He slowly, inch by inch, dragged himself up. He took a few steps and fell to the ground again. On the ground were smaller logs and sticks. He carefully got back to his feet, leaning on a log to help him walk. He followed the road the boys had drove down.  
It took ages. The road curved and twisted, went straight and continued for miles. It went downhill and sloped which meant Chuck began to feel warm and he became aware he started sweating. The sun had begun to set, making the empty road and the trees around him a bright orange, which faded to red, and finally to a deep blue.  
Chuck took refuge from the night in a thick tree that allowed him to wiggle halfway into the trunk. He felt exposed and vulnerable, he was also starting to feel a sensation he had never experienced before. His eyes were heavy, and he was yawning, was he tired? Did he need to sleep now?  
The temperature was dropping fast as the sun went down, he tried to start a fire but had no idea how to do it. Humans made it look so easy but each time he tried hitting two rocks, he just grazed his fingers. So much for movies making it work the first time, it was all useless! Human deception. They were truly the worst.  
Chuck sat with his legs closer to his chest, his arms tucked in. Was it normal to feel so cold? His feet were cold and his big toes felt like they were going numb. He started to doze off, only to wake suddenly as an owl hooted followed by a wolf howling. He was correct then; Jack had brought back everything he had taken away. His stomach growled with hunger all night long.  
Food. Food. Food.  
It was all he could think of. He wanted a burger with hot fluffy fries. He wanted nacho cheese, he could almost imagine crunching on the nachos, imagined him dipping them into the hot cheese. Oh lord, was this what humans felt when they were hungry? How did they bare it! 

When another wolf called out, much closer to him Chuck’s eyes snapped open, he was awake in seconds, his toes were so cold in his shoes it was painful. He froze, trying to recall why wolves howl. His memory was foggy, he hadn’t thought about wolves in centuries, why would he. Didn’t he create them to be a social animal, to howl to tell each other their location and to warn other wolves this was their territory. Didn’t they also howl because they found food? Just as he thought this, the wolf howled again, it sounded as if it were right behind the tree. 

He flew up in total panic, wanting to be away from the howls. He winched at the pain in his feet which were warming up with him now moving, as he ran away from the direction of the howls. He ran onto the road, but it was all open space with the moon shining down on him like a spotlight. His silver blazer also contributing to making him stand out. He had no cover from the wolves or from anything that could be watching. They weren’t just wolves out there, the Pagan gods he created a long time ago were still out there, angry and looking for vengeance. A few of them lived in this area of the world, he would be a sitting duck if he continued to stand here.  
He flew in total panic across the road to the other side and entered the trees again. Branches hit his face as he stumbled around in the dark, the low hanging trigs scratched his face, causing him to hold his arms over his face to protect his eyes. There were still howls all around him. One by one they were calling out to each other, locating their prey which was him. He had been God. He had created these things; he would not be eaten by his own creation!  
He tripped and fell forward; he was rolling down a sloop. He never seen it in the dark, only realising what had happened when he crashed to a stop. He lay shellshocked for a little while, slowly feeling around to get an idea of where he was. He got to his feet, his knee was burning and touching it he noticed he was bleeding, his clothing ripped open. He was shaking now, with cold and with adrenaline. He took a few more steps before bending over to be sick. This was all awful!  
Having got his composure back, he carried on walking. One arm was around his stomach, there was a pain there he didn’t have before. His knee was throbbing with pain and heat and he knew he would have to wash this somehow, there was no healing anymore for him. The howling had stopped, and Chuck felt relief. Maybe they had given up, left him alone. Maybe something inside of them had recognized he was the one who had created them and had chosen to leave him alone. It was only then he remembered wolves don’t howl when they hunt, they go quiet. 

Panic flooded him again. He hadn’t used his common sense. He should have stayed in that tree, he was somewhat safe in there, safer than where he was now. He couldn’t even see the moon anymore as the trees were so thick. Were the wolves closing in on him right now? Was there something bigger sniffing him out right now? Could they smell his blood?  
Was this it for him then. Was he destined to be lost in the trees, unable to get out, and then eaten by the beasts he had created? Sam and Dean had chosen not to kill him, but was his fate doomed to be a painful mauling.  
It got colder and colder as the early hours of the morning crept in. It was like every hour that past brought lower temperatures and even more darkness. In the odd times Chuck could see the sky again, he looked to see if dawn was approaching, but it just seemed to be endless night. His face was numb now too, the brushes swotting him as he stumbled around, totally lost.  
He despaired, how had this happened to him? It was so unfair.  
He had created all of this; he had even created the climate temperature. Maybe he was premature deciding to kill Michael, that traitor could have been useful to him. He could have used him first and then killed him! 

He looked around, there were no end to the trees, their figures loomed out at him, if he walked on through the night, eventually these trees would end, he would find the road again.  
It wasn’t until dawn did Chuck stop to rest. The trees were lit up by a pale blue light. He stumbled down against a tree and tried to catch his breath but couldn’t. He was wheezing and coughing. He wanted water again so badly his head was throbbing as badly as his leg. He was getting dizzy; he didn’t know if it was from hunger or exhaustion. He had vomited more since he stopped, his stomach making loud angry noises. The pain in this stomach had doubled, causing him to groan as the pain skyrocketed up his entire body, making his legs and lower back cramp up. He cried out quietly. This hurt more than when Jack had taken his powers, he knew he was going to die out here, abandoned by the creation he had abandoned first. 

“My children” He spoke, his voice was broken. His mouth was dry, and his lips were sore. “I know I forsake you, but I am your father. Help me”

He believed they would come. He was certain of it. He was surprised when there was no answer.  
He sat there, feeling faint, his arms shaking, his fingers swollen and red from being exposed all night. His suit was thin but he had taken off his blazer and tried to hug into it, the only blessing was choosing to wear a thin white t-shirt under his shirt. He thought back to that time years ago when he was pretending only to be human. He had a warm coat, it was so stylist too. He liked it a lot. Lightweight but warm, if only he had that coat now, but he had thrown it away, along with the bathrobe when his role of acting like a human slob had ended. He even remembered throwing it aside without a second thought, such clothing was beneath God. Now he wanted those small little luxuries back. He wanted the warmth of that bathrobe.  
He stayed on that spot for some time, the sky turned to a light blue while he sat doubled up, moans escaping his lips as his empty stomach tried to empty itself more. His head was almost on the ground, the throbbing had gotten so bad Chuck could hear his heartbeat in his ears.  
The sound of snapping trigs made him look up, something big was just on the other side of the bushes next to him, it was coming closer, snapping twig after twig. He could hear footsteps approaching fast. It was something big. In his head, he remembered that day he first witnessed a bear mauling a human. He remembered the way the bear stood high up, over the man as its claws came bearing down upon him. At the time Chuck smiled, nature was deadly, and she provided entertainment. Now he was going to be mauled to death, unable to stand.  
“I AM YOUR CREATOR” He shouted “I MADE YOU AND YOU WILL NOT EAT ME. I AM THE LORD GOD, YOUR GOD!”. It sounded brave and heroic to his ears, but all it did was make his head spin around. He struggled to his feet and black spots appeared in his eyes and pressure filled his head, making everything go silent apart from his own heart beating loudly in his ears. The thing was just up ahead now, it broke through the brushes in front of Chuck as everything went black and he crashed down onto the ground.


	2. Chapter 2

He’s on the ground and Sam Winchester is standing over him.  
“It’s the ending where you’re just like us” He tells Chuck.   
Sam starts walking around Chuck, slowly.  
“It’s the ending where you grow old”.  
Sam starts to walk faster.   
“You get sick”.  
Watching Sam going around and around was making Chuck feel lightheaded. He was getting dizzy.  
“You just die”.  
Sam was a funnel and Chuck was sucked down, spinning wildly.   
“No one cares”.  
Chuck’s hands came out, trying to find anything to grip onto to stop him spinning faster.  
“No one remembers you”.  
He was going to be sick, he couldn’t stop spinning. Sam had faded into the distance, leaving Chuck falling into the abyss.  
“You’re … just … forgotten”

His eyes moved, then slowly he opened them. He was looking up at pale white tiles on the ceiling, with lights in small shielded squares. There were bleeping noises coming from the side of him. He slowly moved his head to look at the source of the noise. It was a small monitor recording his breathing and heart rate. As he moved slowly he became conscious of something sitting on his face, he reached up to touch under his nose face and he seen a small clip with a glowing red light on his finger. There was something sticking in his nostrils as he touched it, it moved, making him pull a face as it tickled, it was those oxygen tubes like the ones in Doctor Sexy. He went to raise his other hand and stopped fast. There was a slight pulling and god was it sharp, it made his stomach tighten as he looked down at his hand, there was an IV in his wrist, taped in place with a little tube attached that led up to a bag.   
Oh wow, they really hurt. He had no idea they felt like this

He had written Sam and Dean in hospital scenarios, even Castiel once, it was one of his favourite tropes, ‘How to hurt the Winchesters, without actually killing them’.   
Laying there in this bed, in this too warm and stuffy room, with an IV from hell in his hand, feeling like cotton wool had dried up his mouth, he sure regretted those times he had put the boys through this, it really was not pleasant.   
He slowly got up, using his pillows behind him. So he was in a hospital, and that meant the humans here would have questions on why he was out in the woods, such answers he could not give. He was the one who guided Sam and Dean mentally to never to talk about the Supernatural, he couldn’t make his story if they were locked up.

The IV in his wrist poked sharply as he moved, it needed to come out!   
He looked at it closely, his head slowly clearing as he became more awake. There was tape over the top, all he had to do was take it off and remove the IV. It was so easy; he had seen many movies were actors just pulled them out. He once had Dean do it when hunted by the Leviathan, Dean didn’t even react, so if Dean could do it, he certainly could.   
He carefully removed the finger monitor as it was cumbersome, setting off a louder beeping. Chuck looked at it with annoyance and flicked his finger to silence it. It kept beeping loudly.   
Chuck sighed and went back to the tape.   
“Ah ah ah!” Chuck moaned, pressing down with his lips. He felt faint, he was sure the needle moved. It felt like it was going to rip out of his skin. This was barbaric and humanity was the worse for creating such torture.  
The door opened fast as a nurse came in, no doubt alerted by the beeping.   
“No, leave that” The nurse said, rushing over to take his hand and place it down on the bed..   
“It’s ok, you’re in hospital, do you remember anything? A couple of hikers found you delirious out on the trail, somebody will be in to talk to you later when you have recovered a little more”   
She laid her hand gentle onto his shoulders.   
“Lay back down please, you need to take it easy, you are still very dehydrated, there’ll be a doctor in later to see you”   
She moved him back into the pillows, Chuck was astonished by the audacity of her, manhandling her creator like this!

Boredom. Endless boredom.  
The nurse came back every half an hour to check to see if he was still alive. He was beginning to wish he wasn’t. Whatever this dump was, it was unfit to be called a hospital. He was in a room smaller than his smallest bedroom back when he was slumming it as Chuck the prophet. The window blinds were down, blocking off his view of outside. His room was as white as church walls and just as drab, not even a railing to provide any colour. He was being made to sip diluted squash slowly, he first tried to gulp it down but the nurse told him no like he were a child. He was on his third plastic cup full within two hours of waking, he had to face the shame as his nurse tried to get him to urinate which was not improving his mood. 

On top of that there seemed the constant sound of what seemed to be trolleys rolling up and down the corridor. Finally came the food! He wanted food so much, however what came was not fit for a God. It was ham sandwiches, cut into tringles, with a side helping of salad. He wanted a burger, not some kid’s home cooked lunch from their soccer mom’s fridge. He still cramped it into his mouth as he was starving, he moaned slightly as the flavours hit him. It was even better as human. The flavours were so strong. His mouth flooded with water as his tongue touched butter.   
“This is heaven” He said, confusing his nurse with his odd behaviour.   
The worst thing about this room, Chuck concluded, there was no television. If only he could watch something, anything, even the news. He was left in endless quiet, but not total quite as the trolleys never stopped rolling past the door. The phone out by the nurse station kept ringing, people talking, buzzers ringing.   
He was so bored! 

The IV was still bothering him.   
He spent a considerable long time watching it, while he sipped artificial orange flavoured water that was too weak. The drip, drip, drip of the clear fluid as it dropped from the bag, it collected into a small pool were it was slowly absorbed down the big long tube that ran into his wrist. He wanted it out, right now. Watching the water fall was more interesting than paying attention to the man who had entered the room to ask Chuck a million questions  
“Can you tell me your name?” The man asked.   
He already knew Chuck’s name. Chuck had already given the nurse his name, or the name he was going by, as he had lied. The nurse would have told the doctor before he came in here, the man knew everything about him so Chuck did not see why he should say it all again.

He was writing whenever Chuck spoke. It annoyed him to no end, if he still had his powers, this guy would be monster chow for something the Winchesters could hunt.  
“It’s Rob, Rob Carver”   
He couldn’t just give out his name, that was stupid, he knew any number of demons, witches or even his own angels would love to get his hands on him right now, why make it easier for them by giving them his real name.   
“Ok Rob. Do you know why you were up by the trail without any equipment or supplies” The doctor asked over his notes  
“Um, I just fancied going to see the lake, I heard there was one up there. I got lost coming back down” Chuck just smiled, he knew how to look sheepish to people, he had plenty of practise as Chuck.   
“Did you take transport?” The doctor asked  
“Nope. I just walked up there and got lost. I’m so embarrassed about it to be honest”  
“Rob, the lake is at least 35 miles away from the town” The doctor made another note. “You went up in clothes that were unsuitable, and you had nothing for the journey, no food or water, not even a phone on you”   
“Ah” Chuck said, knowing he had landed himself into it “Really? Oh wow”   
He bit his lip. If only he had his power, he would have just walked out of here. Perhaps vanishing the nurse first, and this man after her.   
The doctor offered him a reassuring look.  
“Rob. I need you to be honest with me. You were found in a state of delirium brought on by hypothermia and dehydration. You must have been out there exposed to the elements for days. I must ask, was this an attempt on your own life?”   
Chuck almost said “What?” out loud but stopped himself. Why would these humans even think that? It was so morbid.

Unfortunately, the man seemed to take Chuck’s indifference as a confirmation.   
“We need to arrange you psychiatric help Rob. Due to this attempt, we have to issue a 72 hour involuntary admission. Once you are discharged from here you shall be transferred to-“  
“Dude, dude, stop. I’m not insane ok. I’ve just had a slight change in circumstances, thanks to my family. Thing is, I’m not mad, not crazy”   
Chuck rolled his eyes.   
The doctor opened his mouth to speak, but Chuck had enough of him and lifted his arm, the one without the IV, and clicked his fingers, expecting the man before him to just vanish. What happened instead was a well-deserved confused look from the doctor, before he scribbled more notes.   
Great, though Chuck, just great.   
Outwards Chuck just smiled.  
“It’s been a long day”

The second day was the worst.  
The nurse kept coming in to check up on him every half an hour. The IV was still in his arm, the bag had been replaced overnight. He had been woken a few times in the night for tempeture checks, vital checks and once for an embarrassing urine test that had left him wanting to massacre the entire hospital. He had condemned entire nations for less in the past.  
He knew now drinking from the lake had been a very bad idea, the nausea had hit him. He shivered from constant chills, then felt the heat baring down on him. He had managed to get out of bed to use the bathroom. The pain in his leg was a bad graze, the skin has been cut but a simple dressing was all that was needed. It would heal within a few days, the idea of waiting for anything to heal was beyond his thinking. The rest of the time he laid in bed, trying to drink but being sick every time he tried. Twice he had rung the nurse station on the buzzer by his bed for the temperature in this room to be turned down. All he achieved was adding to the noise of that place, because as his nurse said, the rooms all were kept at the same temperature at all times.  
“You, your entire family, and all your friends are condemned to the pit” he hissed after she had left.

Thankfully, amazingly, his sickness broke on the fifth day and Chuck felt better.   
On que, the nurse woke him at 7am to force him to sip down more water as part of his hydration ritual. While asking him what he wanted to eat for breakfast that morning, she alerted Chuck to the news a psychiatrist would be coming to visit him today to talk about his transport to another hospital more accustomed to his needs.  
Chuck smiled, best to appear cooperative.   
In reality, it was time to discharge himself.  
He had zero intend to go along with these humans. He wasn’t crazy, he was God!   
There were not locking him up. What was it with humans trying to lock him up lately, he couldn’t believe it.   
While he waited for his oatmeal, Chuck leaned forward, getting onto his knees, he crawled to the edge of the bed. The nurse had left the door open slightly. He could see only a wall with health notices stuck to them, he moved back to the pillows and slowly got out of bed. Taking hold of the pole on which the IV was held he walked carefully around the bed. If the nurse caught him he would lie and say he was using the bathroom. He reached the door and peered out.   
Sure enough, the nurse station was a little way down the corridor to the left. To the right however was a bend leading away. There were signs all around and sure enough, the exit sign was all lit up.   
‘Me bless humans!’ Chuck thought, they were so helpful.   
He made his way back around the bed and climbed in it. The hospital gown he was wearing would be a problem once outside, but it was very low on his priorities right now.   
If there was anything humanity wanted to do more, it was to carry on living. He had placed that built in desire to escape harm into them, so that even today in the modern age, humans would have their emergency exit signs lite up like a Christmas tree. 

His second highest priority behind getting out of here was the infernal IV still sticking into his wrist. It has been moved from his left arm to his right. He wanted so badly to just pull it off, but just taking the tape off was enough to make him faint. Lucky his nurse came to take it out after he had finished eating his breakfast.   
“Keep the dressing on until later today, it should stop bleeding very shortly, but there may be some bruising for a few days, and some tenderness in that area, just like how it was for your other hand…”   
She started to remove the tape. Chuck pushed his lips together and looked away. His stomach did a weird twisting feeling as her gloved hands held his hand as she removed the tube. He didn’t look until he felt her sticking something soft over where it had been and tapped it down into place.

Chuck lost interest in her. The one thing stopping him leaving had gone. There was now nothing between him from just walking out the second she was gone. A small smile almost showed on his face  
“Rob?” She was saying. Chuck remembered that was the fake name he had given them  
“Oh? What was that sorry?” He asked  
“I need your insurance details if you have them, if not I can forward your bill to the hospital you’ll be going too after here”. She explained to him.  
Insurance? Did they really expect God to have a health insurance policy? Not even Chuck had one when he came to think of it. The pills he had acquired from a chemist using his powers, all in order to convince the Winchesters had had terrible headaches.   
“Oh um I have insurance” He lied “But I’ve forgot my details” He ended with another sheepish smile.   
The nurse just smiled at him.  
“It’s ok, we shall forward the bill and then ether you can make monthly repayments or apply to your insurance company”   
“Yeah, will do that” Chuck nodded.   
He wanted her to go so he could do a run for it. 

The psychiatrist was regularly called in to this hospital to assess patients believed to be high risk to themselves and others. He was escorted up to one of the middle floor wards and went to the nurse station. The normal procedure was simple enough, he would meet with the patient, talk to them about their feelings, how they’ve been this past month and discuss the situation in what landed them here with him. Today would be very different. 

“Its this room here” A young student nurse said as he escorted the psychiatrist to the room where ‘Lake guy’ was staying. He knocked on the door and opened it and stopped. The room was empty, the student nurse paused for a second before walking over to the door to the bathroom, he knocked on it, however it was open slightly, the light was off.   
The student nurse felt slight nerves in this stomach as he opened the door wider and turned on the light. When dealing with mental health patients, he didn’t know what to expect. He was partly relieved when the room was shown to be empty.  
“Mm I will just see where he’s gone” The student nurse said as he walked back to the nurse station. The psychiatrist was behind him  
“Hey” The student said “Do you know where the man in that room is? Has he been taken somewhere?”   
The nurse that had been treating Chuck rose up from her seat, she looked concerned.  
“He was meant to be in here” She said, pushing the door open fully as though she would find her patient that way.  
There was nobody in the room. The student nurse looked over at the nurse for answers, but she was looking at the psychiatrist.   
“We need to alert security” She said at last. 

Half an hour earlier, Chuck waited in his room. The nurse had just left and he knew from her normal routine she wouldn’t bother him for another thirty minutes. He could not find his normal clothing, he hadn’t seen them since he gotten here and woke up wearing a hospital gown, however given the state of them he wouldn’t be surprised if they had just binned them. Sad, they were from an Italian designer Chuck had raided after he had vanished humanity away, they cost more than any regular Italian family’s weekly food allowance. Making do with the gown of shame, Chuck made his way to the door and peered out again. There were a few people walking around, other patients, families, nurses doing rounds with their trollies. Chuck walked out and turned right, going right to the exit signs. He walked casual, not to appear in a hurry or to alert suspicion. As he walked past he looked in some of the rooms. A woman was sleeping, or perhaps too sick to get out of bed, a pink pokadot dressing grown hung up on a peg. Chuck looked behind to make sure no nurse was looking, he slipped into the room. He took the dressing gown from the peg and wrapped it around him, making sure the hood was standing up awkwardly into the back of his head, covering his face slightly. From behind he could pass as a female to anybody not looking closely, a tall female but still female. He knew there was a reason he made the Chuck suit the average height for men from a few centuries ago, he thanked his foresight for this blessing. There was nothing he could do about the looks from in front of him, but in this current age, people were less judgemental. He descended staircase after staircase, he didn’t take the elevator as he may have bumped into somebody who would recognise him. It had been twenty minutes since the nurse left his room, she will be going to check on him in less than ten minutes.   
He was feeling a little worn out and tired, his heart rate faster slightly from the physical effort of walking, he was also sweating, which was gross, he had never sweated before from just moving around. He also wished he had a watch, he hated guessing the time, he knew he didn’t have long until his absence was noticed. He reached the bottom floor at last and made his way near to the corridor when he heard it  
Radio chatter  
‘Patient missing from ward 15.19. Believed to be high risk. Dark curly haired man, late 40’s’  
He looked through the crack in the door to see a security guard standing by the fire exit.   
Damn.

‘What would I have Sam and Dean do?’ Chuck thought. Well they would press the fire alarm. He looked around him, then went back up the staircase. There was a little red box at the top of floor 1. He went back up, breathing heavy. He pulled the little trigger down and an ear spitting siren rang out. He turned around and casually walked back down the stairs slowly, pulling up the hood to conceal his face. He also bent over slightly and held his ribs as if he had injured them. This give anybody looking at him the illusion of hurt ribs, a reason to be walking slowly as other people passed him on the stairs. It also totally covered his face and hid more of his height. All around him were people, some carers, some patients. The guard was busy directing those that could walk to the entrance of the hospital. There was confusion as those who needed assistance gathered in safe spots on stairwells waiting to be rescued. Another security guard went up to help, but first he opened a back exit for people to exit the building faster, clearing the way for the other people to come down.

“Watch your step there Miss” He said to a woman in a pink dressing gown, bent slightly forward, as she exited the building with others.  
Upstairs on floor 15, the nurse that had been looking after ‘Rob’ had begun evacuating patients that could walk to a safe area, until she and her co-workers got the call to say the fire alarm had been a fake alarm, it has been manually pulled and not trigged by the smoke alarms.   
In the aftermath of the fake fire alarm, they would continue to search the hospital. Bathrooms would be checked by members of staff, the café, the chapel, even the streets outside and around the hospital would be looked at by the alerted local police, however the man who called himself ‘Rob’ was now long gone.


	3. Chapter 3

Chuck didn’t stop walking until he was a good distance away from the hospital, his feet were cold on the bare floor and he was drawing attention ever more being out in the streets in his hospital clothing. He snuck though back alleys whenever he could, keeping an eye open to see if he could steal any clothing on his way, but he was disappointed by humanity’s lack of generosity. Not even a simple top came his way.  
He knew what he was looking for, but this town was shockingly lacking them, finally he came upon one. A large department store, it’s doors wide open and welcoming to him, with plenty of people going in and out. From across the road, Chuck watched for a few seconds, it looked busy from inside, he could hide quite well, get what he needed. He crossed the road and entered among other customers. He was not surprised to see the odd looks from other people, he wanted to snap at them, demand to know what they were looking at, but he ignored them. He had important things to worry about without drawing more attention to his weird clothing.   
Flicking through rack after rack, he picked out what he needed. Jeans, t-shirts, shirt, hoodie, underwear, socks. He picked up a coat like the one he had before when he was acting as human Chuck. He didn’t know why this one stood out to him, but after his night in the trees, it was a welcome sight to see something that vaguely resembled his old coat. He felt eyes on him as he moved around, he kept in less busier areas in the men’s wear as he didn’t want to attract too much attention so that the security would be called, or the police. He then carefully made his way over to the ‘Home’ range, after a quick look he found what he was looking for, smiling he picked up a box of cheap cutlery. He headed towards the changing rooms, picking up a pair of black Converse on his way from a shoe rack, they always suited him well. He had also influenced their very name ‘Chucks’ because he liked the shoes so much he wanted them named after him.   
He entered the changing rooms located at the side of the men’s department and walked to the end. He closed the door and locked it and sat down on the soft chair provided in each stall. He placed the clothes he had picked out onto the chair beside him and got to work opening the cutlery set. He pulled out two forks from the box and threw the rest onto the floor.   
Being God meant he knew a lot of things about the world, about humanity, even the ugly side of humanity that he was embracing now. Throughout the history of mankind, there had always been thieves. Was he a thief now? No he wasn’t.   
When Adam and Eve turned into ungrateful little brats they had moaned at him for making them naked and wouldn’t stop moaning and wailing until he made them clothes. Now humanity was simply returning the favour and providing for him. 

He wiggled the two forks between the security tags and got to work on losing the magnets that held the pin in place. First he dressed in the underwear, then sitting there he freed the t-shirt from its tag and pulled it over his head. Sitting there in just underwear and the top he already felt like human Chuck again. He freed the jeans and slipped them on, loving the way the jeans felt warm against his cold skin. He pulled out socks from the cardboard and pulled them over his feet. Then he worked on the shoes, followed by the shirt, and the hoodie.   
Finally, he placed the coat over them all and pulled the hood out from under his coat. He looked in the mirror and smiled, he looked more like himself again, almost. The smart blazer and suit were gone, replaced by a more authentic human Chuck look, but he wouldn’t attract any attention now. He kicked the pink dressing gown to the other side of the cubical and left the hospital grown by his feet. He couldn’t be called a thief if he was trading clothing for clothing, to also add insult, he pulled off the dressings from his wrist and threw it onto the floor. The floor was littered with discarded tags, pins, packaging from his now empty underwear and socks (He had folded the spare pair up and put them in the pockets for future use) two very bent forks and the rest of the cutlery set he had used to commit shoplifting. His crime spree wasn’t over though, as he walked through the shop and to the exit, he pocketed a bag of cookies as he went. Putting them into his mouth he smiled, humanity provided well for him.   
If Chuck still had his ability to be all knowing he would have been aware of the police closing in on him. Not too long after Chuck had entered he was picked up by the CCTV in the store, the staff employed to watch the shop floor had his attention on Chuck the second he seen him. From his clothes he appeared to have just gotten out of hospital, however he had lost sight of the man as he moved around into the CCTV’s blind spots. By the time they could locate the man again, he had disappeared from the shop floor.   
The staff had hoped the man had moved on, but a member of the public had alerted a member of the floor staff to the state of the male’s changing rooms. When they seen all the tags on the floor they knew they had been theft on a large scale and alerted the security team. The staff member knew at once who they were looking for once he was told about the discarded hospital gown and pink dressing rope. It wasn’t long until the staff member found their man, now dressed in new clothing leaving the shop with a smug smile on his face as he causally reached out to steal again. Taking a clear picture of his face the staff member rang the local sheriff station. From there, a local deputy left his car and went into the hospital to confirm this was the missing patient who had set off a fire alarm to escape the hospital. Once confirmed, an APB was placed out for a ‘Rob Carver’ who was suspected to be a risk to himself. 

There was somewhere Chuck wanted to go. He needed to speak with Amara and he knew the one place he could talk to her and be safe from demons sneaking up on him. Throwing the empty cookie bag on the floor he walked purposely through the streets, looking for a church. It didn’t take him long to find one, churchs belonging to certain faiths had yours truly as their figurehead, even if they didn’t all realise they were worshipping Chuck. This one was some Z list branch church of his ever-growing fandom. He walked through the open doors as if this was his own home, which it was.

“Welcome sir” The beaming pastor lurking in the entrance said to him, his smile all warm and sweet.   
“Whatever” Chuck said back to him as he walked right down the isle of pews in the middle.   
The stopped as he reached the end and standing in front of the altar he shook his head in disgust, looking up at the sculpture of Jesus on the cross.  
“Seriously Michael” He said in a low voice.   
When he first seen the bible, Chuck was so amused. It was clear from the first page alone that Michael himself had wrote it. His handwriting was all over those scrolls.   
It surprised Chuck quite a lot when he then discovered more scrolls circulating about a child of God who had come to earth, who had the love of his heavenly father, who then warded of the evil devil while keeping faith in the forever loving God. It was enough to make Chuck choke on his wine. Michael had inserted himself into his own book, only the humans believed him and then they started worshipping Michael under another name along with Chuck. This was unforgivable to Chuck. Only he, and he alone, was Lord. In those stories, the son later died for humanities sins. Chuck sneered, oh how ironic and fitting. Michael’s finale straw was siding with the Winchesters and for that he had to go. He waved his hand, trying to knock the sculpture down but of course it didn’t move.   
Damn Michael.  
“Ok, listen up Amara. I know you can hear me Sis. Where to even start? So I am sorry if I pissed you off locking you up years ago, I thought we got passed this. I am sorry I called myself the frontman of our band, I get it now, you are co-vocals. We’ve been together since the very start of existence. We are twins, you and me”   
Chuck paused, then went on.   
“I know you didn’t mean to abandon me, Jack is to blame, I get that, he sucked you up like a spaghetti dinner and you had no choice but to go with him, so I just want you to know I’m not mad or anything. I am actually in a dark place, I don’t have my power and I think I am human now, I bleed and get all gross and sweaty, I’m always thirsty and hungry and I think I need a bath, the thing is Amara I need some help, so can you come down here right now please and help me. Get that kid to give me my power back or something. Ok I will just wait here for you, please don’t be too long. Chuck out”  
He sat down on the pew, crossed one leg over the other and waited, any second now Amara would come to save him and this would all be over.   
He was still sitting after an hour.

Now he was pissed off. He waited as long as he could until his anger boiled over. They had all abandoned him, so be it  
“I see, that’s how it is, is it?” He shouted, standing up “You’re just leaving me down here to die?”   
The humans in the church all looked up. Some had been silently praying, others lighting candles quietly in the corner.   
Chuck walked up to the alter, there was a cross sitting there. Chuck picked it up.  
“I created you!” He screamed. He was talking to the angels who had not immediately came to his aid. “I was your brother!” That was addressed to Amara.   
Chuck threw the cross as hard as he could, where it smashed against the wall. The humans were looking at him in alarm. A little girl had moved behind her mother with a loud whimper.

“What are you looking at?” Chuck snapped at the kid. “I created you. I created everyone of you in this room”   
The pastor had come in to see what the disturbance was, he stood in the doorway, watching the scene before him unfold.   
Chuck walked towards a group of candles, he passed his finger through one of them, tears of rage dampened his eyes.   
“I was God. Your God, until the son of Lucifer stolen my powers. He is the one you now call God”   
He was speaking quite, but he knew he held their attention and they could hear him.  
“That’s right” He said, sniffing “The devil’s child is now your god and you all will burn”   
He upended the candles. He had hopped they would catch fire and set the whole church ablaze, but sadly they didn’t.   
He walked away from the corner and pointed up at the Crucifix upon the wall behind the altar  
“Idol worship” He hissed “You are all so pathetic, begging your father for answers, well listen up my children, I’m going to tell you everything”   
Chuck made eye contact with the pastor.  
“You’ve been worshipping Michael all this time and now he’s dead, something tells me he won’t be rising again in three days, but by all means, keeping praying. I killed him; he was never even my favourite son. Prince of Heaven? He was pining after some human kid by the end. He was always a mess, crying for me for years. Lucifer was always my favourite; you humans didn’t even get that part right. I didn’t write the Bible, Michael did! I left heaven and he took over. He freed Lucifer and I had to step in to stop both from killing you all!”  
He pointed at each of them as they stood stunned, they seemed to be rooted in place.  
“I am your Lord God and I should have ended your kind after the flood, you are all so toxic! Same as the angels, one simple rule, don’t make Nephilim. What does Lucifer do? He creates a spawn the second I leave him and that abomination stole my power”.   
A woman then made a run for it, she bolted for the door, as if she expected Chuck to come running after her. Chuck ignored her

“Now I’m condemned to die as a human. Do you know who your new God is? He’s a three-year-old who can’t even tie his own shoes, what’s going to happen when the planet’s oxygen levels fall? He can’t even tie his own shoelaces, you think he knows how to regulate oxygen? Or gravity? Do you think he knows how to clear space rocks that may hit this world? Do you think he even knows what black holes do? Well do you Jack? I know you can hear me! Get down here and face me! And you can tell that B-Word of my sister, tell her I am through with her. I am done with you. I am done with her. I am done with the whole lot of you. The world can rot. These people can all burn! You tell Sam and Dean I am NOT done with them! You can ALL GO TO HELL!” 

He stormed over to the pulpit and kicked it hard, he had meant to destroy it, one simple kick before would have sent wood flying everywhere, but all he achieved was hurting his toes. He cursed loudly with a cry as his knee started hurting again. He kicked it again out of frustration and just felt more pain. He collapsed onto the floor after that, clutching his hair as rage thundered through him. Just dare any of them approach him right now, he didn’t need his powers, he would kill them with his bare hands. 

The Pastor had hoped for a quite day of reflection and prayer. He opened the church as he did everyday for the people who needed to come in. Some were his regular flock who attended each week, others were people from the streets who wanted to come in for a look at the art or get a feel of the building. Some people came in as they felt lost or needed answers and guidance they didn’t know where else to turn too. The other people in the church watched as the screaming man broke down, some fled the church as fast as they could, relieved to be away from him. Other stayed to watch, making eye contact with the pastor for some sign of what to do.  
“Go out” He just told them. He needed to assess the situation. He didn’t know what he was dealing with here and he didn’t want to put anybody at risk. He waited until the last person had left and closed the door behind him.   
“Are you okay?” He asked the troubled man, keeping his distance from him. The man ignored him and carried on rubbing his hair. His body was visibly shaking with each sharp intake of breath. He looked agitated, as if he had never felt emotion like this before.   
“I get days like this” The pastor tried again “Days were you just have too much on your mind, were everything hits you all at once and you reach melting point and it all comes out. Are you ok? Have you perhaps taken anything? It’s just me and you in here so if you wish to talk, nobody will hear”   
He had seen the effects of drugs before in this town, it was beautiful here near the lake but it wasn’t economically well off and residents had suffered for it.  
The man lifted his face, he stopped rubbing his hair.  
“Screw You” The man hissed at him.  
There were tears running down Chuck’s face, he hadn’t meant to cry, but his rage towards everything had led his tear ducks oddly starting up.   
Before the pastor could try to talk to the man again there was a knock on the door. He went back to the door and opened it, there were two officers from the local sheriff department.  
“Officers” He said in greetings.   
Inside the church, Chuck looked up in alarm. Had the humans really reported him? Seriously! He was their creator. While writing Sam and Dean’s many adventures, Chuck had them hunted down by the FBI, Chuck now was living a real-life version of it. He knew what this meant for him. Getting to his feet, he ran behind the alter and to the very back of the Church. He assessed his options, there was a door partly concealed by a curtain, he opened it and found himself in what looked like a joining room for the Church organ. He looked around and found a heavy looking candle holder. He held it close to his body, ready to swing it into the face of whoever came in here. Even as Chuck, he had a wicked right swing, as Sam’s face had once found out. He would defend himself with it should the police try to take him. He listened to what was being said.

“We received a phone call that there was a man here causing a commotion” The first officer said. The second took out a sheet of paper from his pocket  
“Was this the man?” The second officer said, showing the pastor the paper  
A look of recognition passed the pastor’s face, it was certainly the man   
“Yes, this is the man” He confirmed “Is he dangerous?”   
The first officer answered him “He is wanted for a minor offense, but mostly we are seeking him for a matter of health concerns. It’s important we find him”   
The pastor opened his mouth, what he was going to say was  
‘He’s just over there’ but what came out of his mouth was  
“He ran just before you came, I’m sorry you missed him, he caused a scene in here too and terrified my flock, I hope you find him, the poor man is in need of help. I will pray for him”.  
The pastor froze. He tried to open his mouth again to say the man was right here, but he couldn’t speak.  
The police smiled, seemed reassured by his answer.  
“Ok, phone us on this number if he returns”   
Hiding in the back room, Chuck heard the men leave, he kept hold of the candle holder for a few moments longer before putting it back down.   
He needed to go now, the police were looking for him, he guessed his escape act at the hospital and shoplifting spree had alerted the local law enforcement  
“Are you kidding me!” He opened the door and came out, his anger apparent for the pastor to see, it was all there in his eyes, he was really done with the human race at this point and wanted them all to burn in hellfire.  
The pastor was stood gasping at him like a goldfish.   
“Thanks” Chuck said without any emotion, convinced the pastor had just covered for him with the police.   
“Wait, wait” The Pastor said “Who are you? Why couldn’t I tell those men the truth?”   
That was news to Chuck.  
“What truth, about Michael being your cross dude?”   
“No” The pastor said “I lied about you being here. I didn’t mean too. It just happened, like I was possessed”   
He look flustered. He was looking at Chuck as if he had seen a ghost.  
“Who are you, really?” He asked again  
“Mmm” Chuck mused, ignoring the man’s question, so Jack was already messing around with humanity, so much for being a better god than him, but why Chuck had no idea.   
“Why don’t you pray to Satan’s brat and ask him”.   
“You said you were God? What did you mean by that?” The pastor asked.  
“Were you not listening to what I said?” Chuck snapped. God, humanity was dense.   
Chuck turned to leave, who cared if this human thought he was insane, he didn’t care what any of them thought.   
The pastor did not know what to think, but somewhere inside of him he knew he couldn’t just let this man go. He looked at Chuck, his curly hair was perfect, not a strand out of place. His beard was perfectly shaped and formed, almost like the artwork around the church. There was something about him and it seemed otherworldly. He radiated a strong feeling, the pastor felt drawn to him, even if he was a little scary.

“Wait please” The pastor called after him “The police are looking for you. If you really are him, then… Maybe you should lay low for a few weeks until everything calms down. There is a place this Church helps maintain; we can offer you shelter, a place to keep away from the police”   
Chuck stopped. He didn’t really want to live on the streets, not with the demons and the pagan gods out there and if he carried on stealing the police would catch up to him, there was no doubt they were already on his back. Also, if the church ran this place, it wasn’t charity, it wasn’t begging for help. It was his rightful claim, his home on earth. Humanity owned him that much.  
“.. Okay then ..” Chuck paused “Do you have popcorn? Burgers? I’m hungry”.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the little delay. Christmas got in the way of updates. Happy New Year guys xx

The Soul Squad Community Church was often mocked for its name, it was one of those cheesy, corny names that pop up onto religious buildings that make people look in disbelief and laugh. It wasn’t really a church, more converted collage dormitories with a chapel in the middle, the local college had donated the land when they expanded further into the city. There were both sexes living there, but the halls were single sexed. The locals of the town were used to seeing the inhabitants of the church out around town, often picking up litter or helping maintain the town’s main green area, the women were often seen at the local food bank, helping out local families who had fallen onto hard times, other women stayed at the church to do one to one time with social workers. It was often believed by some of the locals that only the homeless, or troubled people lived at the church, and they were judged harshly for being a stain on this perfect American town. Others in the town viewed the people there with sympathy, believing the way this church was ran was old fashioned and a little condescending.  
Each day at 7am the bells would ring for breakfast and by 8am the bells rang again for morning worship at the chapel. By 9am they left the grounds to go into town on a white minibus with ‘The Soul Squad Community Church’ written on the size.  
“Here comes the Soul Squad” One young boy from the local high school joked with his friend when the bus pulled up by the town green. They were skipping school and made no intention of hiding it, sitting out in the open, with a coffee from the local coffee shop, but they weren’t the only ones skipping out.  
From the minibus came a man with brown curly hair, he picked up a litter stick and took a bin liner and waited for the bus to pull away. As the boys watched, he dropped them onto the floor and sat on a bench, pulling a phone from the inside pocket of his jacket, from the angle of the phone and the movements he was making, he was clearly playing a game.  
As the boys watched, a second man approached the first man, who totally ignored him at first. The second man looked angry and pointed at the phone. It was knowledge to the boys that the weird Soul Church did not allow modern technology, they weren’t even allowed a television in their own personal rooms. The first man still ignored him, until the second man went to take the phone from him, leading to the man doing something odd, as the boys watched, he clicked his fingers.  
The second man just looked at him for a second before the man with the phone leaned forward and said something to him. The confronting man went white, shook his head and walked off, leaving the man to play with his phone.  
He would stay there for some time, well after the boys had left to hang out in another part of town. 

Chuck stood and stretched out, raising his arms high above his shoulders as he yawned loudly. He knew the other men there were giving him dark looks, but why should he work for the better of the community when he built this community, and all the communities in this world. Humanity was flawed by nature and these beautiful little potted trees they were digging would most likely be uprooted in the night by the local youth and thrown around the pavement. Chuck refused to waist his time doing something so meaningless as planting mini trees or picking up bottles and tin cans when he knew humanity would just drop them again the very next day. He had already done his work making his beautiful planet, in his eyes, these people now working for food and shelter were just making it up to him, one sorry excuse after another.  
He pocketed his phone and checked his pockets for his money. They received payment each week for their work - only Chuck had yet to actually do any work – and over the three months he had been here he had saved up enough to buy a phone. He had been so bored without snapchat and his cat blog, he had taken great pride and joy before keeping his friends and followers updated with the latest cat memes on both platforms. He had lingered over Amara’s profile for hours that first night, he finally sent her a message but received no reply. He pulled out coins and walked into the coffee shop and ordered a gingerbread latte and a sandwich. He sat by the window watching the workers, sipping his hot and very sweet coffee as they worked in the chilly morning. Winter was certainly here, when he woke up they had been frost on the ground, and sitting out there had not been fun after an hour or so on the hard bench. He placed his hands around the hot glass mug, before his hands were never cold, but now he found comfort in the warmth that liquid could bring him, everything tasted better to him now, the gingerbread in this drink was spicy in a warming way. This was his new favourite place to hang out, nobody bothered him, nobody was looking for him, he was further from ‘Lake town’ now so he wasn’t worried about the police looking for him. A very familiar Christmas song started playing on the radio in the café, his foot tapping along to the beat. Shame really, the singer was actually a demon who had sold her soul for one very catchy festive song way back in the 90’s. She had crawled out of hell not too long after because Azazel didn’t like her singing or her diva attitude. Chuck giggled to himself, nobody would believe him if he told them that, not even the pastor who brought Chuck here, he was still in contact with Chuck even now, often getting him out of tight spots with the clergymen of the Soul Squad, such as the exorcism they proposed the month before. Chuck sang along quietly, nobody was bothered when he sang, he suspected the young guy at the counter liked his singing, maybe he liked Chuck too? Maybe Chuck would bring him home and really give those clergymen something to scream about.   
It had started snowing. Chuck looked up at the sky and the small flakes falling. He loved the snow, he had created it after experimenting with weather. He needed something to freeze the earth for the cold climate animals, he had made the warmer climate animals sleep for a period of a few weeks, but the colder climate animals just weren’t cold enough, even with the bitter winds, so he made the sky rain, however he half frozen the water into small flakes and as he stood watching what he had done, the ground slowly turned white. He was so mesmerized by its beauty, he named it snow and the frozen water it brought ice. It was so beautiful he later created Lucifer to carry the same ice inside him. He remembered how animals looked in a snowy landscape. Artic foxes perfectly blended into the background, birds leaving footprints as they hopped around trying to find worms through the frozen earth, wild horses kicking it up as they ran. He wanted to see that again, one more time before he died. He had taken it for granted after some many times seeing it, now he didn’t know how many more times he would see it.  
The gardeners had stopped while Chuck sat there watching them, they joined the litter pickers rummaging along in the little shrubs and hedges for any concealed trash. How cruel, Chuck thought, a religion in his name which forces downtrodden people to slave away in the cold just for shelter. There was something wrong about that, perhaps he should have regulated the churches better back when he was God, being hands on was a bad idea, but a few altered policies here and there wouldn’t have harmed anybody. Too late now he guessed and anyway, humanity had mostly turned against him. They blamed him for their problems, they used his name to kill each other, they had stripped him off his power and poisoned his family against him.  
To hell with all of them. His next coffee was ordered to take out, he drank it sitting in the warmth by his favourite window. After half an hour more the Soul Squad bus was due back and Chuck left the shop. As he re-joined the others, he dropped his takeout cup at the feet of one of the men.  
“You’re a right piece of work, you know that?” The man grumbled, Chuck smirked. 

That afternoon after lunch they had bible study.  
“…And Jacob wrestled with the angel for the entire night and when day broke, the angel backed down and declared Jacob the winner of their struggle. The angel blessed Jacob and renamed him Israel, the father of all Israelites. Now what can we take away from this? Why was the angel here? Was it Satan, sent to test Jacob in the strength of his faith, as he had tested Job? Notice the angel doesn’t give Jacob his name when Jacob asks for it, the name of God was not said causally, could it be this angel was not an angel but God himself, testing Jacob? Was the angel in fact Jesus, sent down from heaven early to see if his ancestors were worthy? What do you all think? Take a moment to reflect upon-“  
A large yawn cut him off, and everybody turned to see Chuck at the back, still yawning. The clergyman took a slow breath in. Of course it would be Chuck, ever since he had arrived here he was disturbing the peace of the Soul Squad Community Church, this man was further from God than it could be possible.  
“Chuck, do you have any ideas or thoughts you would like to contribute to the group” “Samael” Chuck said  
“Huh?” The clergyman asked “Sorry what was that?”  
“The angel” Chuck spoke, yawning again “That was Samael. He was the one who was fighting with Jacob. It wasn’t Lucifer and it wasn’t the G-Word, where do you guys even come up with this stuff? It wasn’t Jesus either, he was just a witch, but he did excellent tricks, the whole water into wine? Pretty cool. I believe he was working with demons to get his power; he wasn’t born with power that’s for sure, Michael just picked him because he was famous at the time, like a Kardashian”  
The clergyman pushed his lips together, the man before him infuriated him.  
“So Jacob” Chuck crossed his legs and shrugged “To be honest he was a jerk. G-word would have picked Esau if only the bloodlines were right. Jacob, world class jerk right there. Trust me, if G-Word had been the one fighting with Jacob, he would have slapped him across the face. It’s why G-Word asked Samael to fight with him all night, tool had it coming”  
The clergyman continued to look at Chuck for a moment, before smiling at the group at large  
“That shall be enough for today. Dinner will be at 6pm” 

“Chuck is difficult, we should transfer him” The Clergyman tried not to rant, but he was so angry. This had been the third time this week alone that Chuck had interrupted his classes. “His views are blasphemy at best. He understands and knows the bible better than any of the others, but his words are dangerous. Last week I asked the people here to present their own individual learning activity and he just sat and told the group that Lucifer isn’t actually evil, that St Michael the Archangel pushed the propaganda because of some dark mark that corrupted Lucifer, that God made a mistake, how God is sorry, how God still loves him. It was like hearing the words of a deranged man, yet he spoke with so much conviction I worry he is filling the heads of the people here with dangerous views that could corrupt their souls”  
The pastor just smiled  
“Chuck is interesting, but no, we shall not be transferring him anywhere. Trust me on this matter”  
The clergyman rubbed his head  
“I don’t know what you see him in. He doesn’t do any work, he stole the television from the communal room and took it to his own room, he’s snuck a phone in, he told me the current Pope used blackmail and a demon deal to gain power and the other week he told me Father Reynolds is into bestiality. He can’t just go around saying things like that, I will not stand for it”  
The pastor sat there quietly for a while, knowing fully well Chuck wasn’t lying.  
“I will see Chuck today when I speak to him” he got up and left.

“You are getting quite the name” The pastor informed Chuck, after he had tracked him down sitting in the communal room strumming a guitar.  
“Just telling them the truth” Chuck shrugged “Bigoted small minded hypocrites”  
“Just try not to offend them too much, they can ask you to leave here and you don’t yet have the resources you need”  
Chuck sighed  
“Any word yet on a job? I don’t mind remote, just not Antarctica remote. I just want to be as far away from humanity because you all are making my skin crawl right now, not you though! If there’s anybody who should go to heaven, it’s you. Slap my grandson when you see him”  
The pastor smiled  
“You could take any job in the nearby city, why do you want to go so far away?”  
“Exile” Chuck just shrugged.  
In reality, Chuck knew he could never fit in as a human. He created these beings, but he was not one of them, no matter how much he now needed to eat, to sleep, to do other human-like things which grossed him out. How could he fit in when he knew exactly what made humans work, how he knew what every single one of these souls looked like, their bloodlines, everything. He wanted to go far, far away from all of them, all around him were people whose lives were so fragile, stuffed out at any second. He didn’t want to be reminded of his own days slowly running out with each setting sun. He thought the anxiety knowing Amara was free was bad, but this was worse, this he couldn’t escape by hiding in a bar.  
“Well please just try to be civil for when the state’s father comes to visit here next week, he has more power than me, don’t offend him” the pastor advised  
“He’s into little boys, I will offend him if I wish” Chuck replied  
The pastor gasped in shock and dropping the cup.  
Another month had passed rather quietly, Christmas came with Chuck informing one emotional nun that she was hell bound for observing pagan religions when she wouldn’t stop knocking on his door to wake him at 5am on Christmas morning. The State Father did not come for a visit after an anonymous tip off led police straight to his more sinful nature, and Chuck finally got what he wanted. A job in the middle of nowhere, far away from any living soul, up in some national park that only seen a few visitors each month. There would be a log cabin up in the woods, with a giant stone chimney, two floors and it looked homely, the perfect retreat for what he wanted. It was in nature but away from anything that would want to eat him. Away from humanity. The pay wasn’t good, but it was liveable. He could buy things he wanted, maybe he could get a hot tub for the patio, that was all good with him. 

On the last day at the Soul Squad Community Church, Chuck went into the town with the pastor to go shopping for home essentials such as plates, cups and pans, he was eager to leave that place. Only that morning there had been some drama at breakfast when one of the clergymen had entered his room while he was out, hoping to take back the ‘borrowed’ television Chuck had taken from the communal room and had found the sigils and enochian scripts all over the walls that Chuck was using to keep himself of the radar of Angels and Demons. He came into the kitchen and went straight to Chuck in rage.  
“What is that in your room? It looks like Devil worship” The man had said, while trembling openly “You cannot practise this wickedness here. This is a home of the Lord”  
“I am the Lord” Chuck had replied truthfully, which just angered the man to the point his face had turned red.  
Not even Chuck could have seen what came next.  
Chuck was engrossed by all the patterns on the plates and utilities on offer. He never took much notice of these before, they were props human Chuck had in his house. Whenever he did cook, whatever he needed just was there at a click of his fingers. Egg pan, casserole dish? It just was there. Now he needed everything in order to cook for himself, he amused himself by buying cups with fun slogans and of course ones with cats on them.  
Chuck was so into the cups and plates; he didn’t notice the woman with the black eyes watching him from across the shop. He didn’t notice as she titled her head to the side, confirming it was indeed Chuck Shurley before her. As Chuck lifted a lid of a cooper pan to ask if this was better than stainless steel he didn’t see her as she stalked closer, picking up a pack of kitchen knifes and ripping open the tough plastic they were sitting in. As Chuck bent down to put the cooper pans into his trolley, he didn’t see the demon bringing the knife flying down.  
Chuck fell forward with a gasp, he was startled. Why had he fallen? Had be been pushed? There were screams all around him, people shouting. He tried to twist around but something was on top of him.  
“Phone an ambulance!” Somebody shouted.  
Chuck tried to look behind him, there was a pain in his side from where he had landed on a cup. The trolley had been rolled away with him falling on it, he was confused as to what had happened, all the noise around him.  
Then he turned his head more and seen a woman behind him being dragged by two security men, a third joined them and tried to drag the woman to the floor. She looked Chuck in the eyes, and they flashed pure black. He had been so stupid to not realise there was a demon in here with him, why had he let his guard down? The demon inside the woman then smoked out through the floor, leaving the vessel screaming in horror at what she had done.

And then came the noise, a wet sort of gagging noise.  
Other people had come forward and they lifted the pastor from Chuck. Chuck wiggled out from under him just in time to see the pastor clutching his neck. Blood was pouring, gushing from a wound in his throat. Chuck made a sound like a kicked animal as his only friend carried on gasping for air, his feet kicking the floor as he gagged on his own blood. He then looked at Chuck in the eye and something passed between them. He had saved Chuck’s life with his own. With one more gasp, he went still and Chuck was left, tears in his eyes, his breathing coming out uneven and fast, looking at the wide open empty eyes of death staring right back at him, blood still poring out of the wound.  
This was the true image of humanity Chuck had created.


	5. Chapter 5

Up in the trees an owl hooted before taking flight as it spotted food running across the ground below, as it took flight the owl’s wings momentarily cast a shadow upon a skylight at the top of a cabin before swooping down and landing on a vole. It took off with another hoot as it retreated to the trees. Inside the cabin, a man lay in bed, his hand clutching the blanket as sweat trickled down his neck.   
His dreams were troubled, there was a young man who appeared ageless walking across a path that had no end, all around him people lined the path, sitting in the dirt, on scorched earth, on stones, all crying out to him for help. As the young man walked more, the people grew more desperate, the images got steadier more violent, the people started wailing as their children were cut down by invisible forces, mothers screamed at the young man for allowing this to happen. A giant flood washed them all away, only for more to appear as the waters fell back. He watched entire cities fall, fire raining from the sky and burning the flesh off the bones. He could hear their skin crackling as it cooked. He walked on and even though all around him were hellish scenes, he didn’t care at all.   
It didn’t bother him as these were just his toys, these were just things he had created, they had multiplied and grown far faster than how he wanted them too, they over populated the world he had created, what did it matter if they died, as there were always far too many of them. The young man grew into an adult by choice as the path went on, he always controlled his age and never appeared too young or too old, he would always be in his prime.  
The slaughtering of humanity beside him carried on as he walked. He watched as ancient empires battled each other, plague victims fell in the streets, people marching in his name to kill people also marching in his name. He watched as war victims were bombed from above and suddenly he became aware the path ahead was now blocked to him by a human who had somehow joined him on the path, he had not been expecting this, it could not have happened.   
“Dean” He sneered, rather amused that the eldest Winchester had somehow gotten onto his path. Dean’s green eyes glared into his own, but he didn’t say anything, slowly the man became aware of somebody behind him. He turned to see Sam behind him, holding a gun up right between the man’s eyes.   
He fired.

Chuck jumped, his legs kicking out as he raised his hands to his head to touch the wound, but of course they wasn’t one.   
Just another bad dream.   
Chuck crossed his legs as he rubbed his head, pushing his curly hair away from his face, the sweat was chilly in the night air, his heart rate steadily getting slower as he calmed down.   
There was a noise at his bedroom door as something dark slid into the room, a dark shadow moving towards him as Chuck fumbled for the light switch to the string of fairy lights around his skylight. Warm white light dimly lit the room as the black shadow jumped up onto his bed  
“Hey Lilly, I’m sorry, did I wake you?” Chuck said as he stroked the blue heeler’s large ears. She yawned and dog breath hit his nostrils, then she licked his face while he stroked her neck. He had lost count of how many times she had been there for him after the nightmares came but she never left his side. Her bed was just outside his room on the passage, she had the run of the cabin, she could sleep on the sofa if she wanted, but she kept wanting to be near him, so he moved her bed from the kitchen to outside his room.   
While the dog settled on his bed, Chuck rubbed his eyes. That dream was one that kept coming back to him in different forms, but it was always the same concept. He was God, watching his own creation suffer with cold indifference and was always ended by the Winchesters, Becky, Jack, his own sons or Amara. No matter what he did or where he went, they were always at the end of every dream waiting for him.   
Chuck looked over at the alarm clock, it was just after 4am and he knew he probably wouldn’t be going back to sleep any time soon which was annoying as he had a shift later that morning, he got up and threw his dressing gown over his top and shorts, the dog followed him behind as Chuck went out into the passage and turned on the light. The cottage lit up and Chuck went down the small stairs to the sitting area. There was a kitchen underneath the ceiling to where his bedroom and bathroom where. He loved his retreat, people came to places like this for winter holidays or summer breaks, he lived here all year around and had been for five years now.   
As he boiled milk in a pan he pressed his lips together. It had really been five years ago, almost six, since he became human. Soon it would be ten years. The time had flown by and that scared Chuck a lot. Physically he reckoned he was roughly the age of a fifty-five-year-old by now, however his aging was unpredictable, having been immortal once. He tried not to think of his mortality as it made him feel like he would be sick from the anxiety.   
He walked over to the air con and set it to a warm heat to take the chill away from the night air. Lilly started crunching her biscuits by the corner, it wasn’t fancy food, just stuff he had taken from the Gas N Sip where he worked. The sound calmed him down, it was normal noise, the sound of home.   
He poured the steaming milk onto his hot chocolate powder and took it to the sofa, he placed it down on his coffee table and pulled the soft throw over him. He turned the TV on the news, sometimes he would watch just to reassure himself that humanity was doing ok, they were still out there, still going through the motions. Jack had brought everybody back and Chuck was ok with that, he believed back then he wanted everything gone, humanity, the animals, every single dog, all gone. Lilly met his eyes as she lifted her head, still crunching her food, and Chuck felt a little judged  
“You didn’t even exist back then” He found himself telling her “If you did, I would have kept you, promise”  
Chuck checked the headlines as they ran past the screen, then watched a little as the newscaster did a night time story on a special report. He wasn’t really watching the news but thinking of the one topic he thought of often.  
What were Sam and Dean doing right now?   
Working in the Gas N Sip, Chuck had loads of time to think about a scenario that often played on his mind. What would he do if he was at work and Sam, Dean and Jack pulled up in the impala? What would he do? What would he even say to them, where would he begin? Would he watch as they entered the store and wait for them to see him, would he hide and hope they would go away? Lock the door to the store before they even got out of the car and pretend to be closed? Would he say hello and then apologize to them while scanning Dean’s beer and swiping the fake credit card, say sorry to them for all he had done? Show them the anti possession and tracking tattoos he had done, inspired by them and Castiel, on his hip after the incident back down in Lake Town? It just seemed so crazy, but he often thought about it. Maybe they would be on a hunt in the local area and come in for information and find a familiar yet unwelcome face. During his working hours, it was just him at the Gas N Sip, nobody seemed to visit, during the past five years he had one or two customers each week and no more. Most days he played games on his phone, had Lilly behind the counter as they shopped online for new books, or read the books he had ordered before. Did he expect the impala to come up the road? He did, all the time. Often he had looked up fast as a familiar car noise hit his ears, but it was never the impala. He sipped the hot chocolate; it was an indulgence he had learned to love. He never loved it before, but now it was all he wanted after the sun had set. As he drank he yet again imagined himself and the Winchesters face to face. He would say sorry, he knew that now, much time had passed for him to see how he had acted towards them over the years was wrong. Being human had opened his eyes to the struggle’s humanity had, how hard it was to fend off hunger, the cold, loneliness. He didn’t need to add to that, by trying to get the brothers to kill each other, throwing monster after monster their way. 

As the sun came up, Chuck grew bored of flicking between channels on TV, he stood and got dressed, returning downstairs to pick up Lilly’s lead, he decided he would take her for a walk in the light of dawn. As he stepped outside, the chilly morning air hit his face as his feet crunched over the frosty ground. He shivered, holding the scarf closer around his face. The winters up here were beautiful but cold, he was thankful for his large fireplace and the aircon system that blasted warm air into every room, but what he really wanted to see was a few minutes from his house, in the summer, it was a perfect place to sit and read, play music on his guitar, but in winter it was a frozen stream pooling into a small body of water with a small waterfall that was still falling down, with icicles handing down. It was beautiful and he had never apricated anything like this in such a long time. He could almost see the sun rising on the ice, the entire scene before him bathed in golden light with the frozen leaves behind in the background. He took out his phone and snapped a picture and opened his apps. Yet again he found Amara’s picture at the very top of his contacts, she was the only one on his list. He opened her messengers and posted the picture.   
‘Almost makes early morning walks with Lilly in the freezing cold worth it. Almost! My feet are frozen #ConverseSuckInSnow. Love you Sis.’  
He watched as the little tick appeared by his picture and comment and waited for the second tick to show that Amara had seen his post. The second tick never came, nor had it ever. She had never gotten back to any of his messages, he didn’t know if she even used this app any more, but he kept sending her them. Pictures of him, of his dog, pictures of the seasons, even a picture of his hot tub with #WishUWhereHere captioned over the top, she never replied, the single tick remained.  
“I miss you Sis” He said, Lilly’s ears moved as Chuck stood there for a moment, hoping that maybe, just maybe she would give him a sign. There was nothing, Lilly sniffed the ground and Chucked moved to carry on their walk before both of their feet froze over. As he moved away, Amara watched him go from the trees, she had kept invisible and silent, preferring to watch her brother without him even knowing. It hurt her to stay away from him, she rubbed the wetness from her eyes, it was better this way for both of them. Her brother was finally growing, finally becoming his better self, she wasn’t going to ruin that by appearing before him. Every time he sent her something, she would go to him to see it in person, to be with him at that moment, and each time he looked sad and it hurt her so much.   
He finished his walk an hour later and returned home, he had his shift at the Gas N Sip to get ready for. At work it was him and another person, but they didn’t often see each other as the low footfall of customers meant there was no need for two people to be at the shop at the same time, Chuck took Lilly with him and placed her behind the till. He wasn’t expecting any customers and didn’t get any all morning as he sat by the window behind the counter. He enjoyed using this time to read, he had began reading not too long after the pastor was killed, he wanted to know the real lives of humans he had abandoned. He considered it his penance, for all the humans he had led to ruin or just ignored, he read their stories. Famous singers he had forced into living rock star lives before crashing and burning through the years, early deaths, meltdowns, murders, suicide packs, movie stars whose lives were more dramatic than their roles. He read autobiographies, true crime books, everything he could order online, then he sent them to be given to second hand shops. He didn’t want to keep the books because he was ashamed of what he read in them. There were a set of books he had burned, his own. He had reread them all, every single one and he didn’t recognise the monster who had conducted all those events, he didn’t want to be that person anymore. That was around the same time he had brought Lilly home, he had travelled to the closest shelter and asked to adopt the dog that had been there the longest, who was more at risk of being destroyed. There was a bit of paperwork but then they brought her out for him to view, her family had surrendered her at just over a year old because she had chewed everything in her reach and had high energy levels they couldn’t handle. Her breed wasn’t fluffy or desired, older but more cuter dogs had been rehomed before her, on top of that she had chewed her bed in the kennels putting off anybody who would have otherwise wanted her. Nobody wanted her and Chuck fully related to that. He took her home where she shredded ‘Tall Tales’ that very first night, rather than being angry, she had inspired Chuck to destroy the set entirely. Once the books were gone, Chuck vowed never to be that cruel God ever again. He even sent a picture to Amara along with the first ever picture of Lilly, but Amara had never replied.   
The only person in the shop that day was a car coming to refill the engine which didn’t require them to enter the shop. All Chuck had to do was confirm the payment at the till as the person drove off. It was a quite job, but Chuck liked that. 

The years were passing faster.   
Chuck got up in the morning and his neck felt stiff, he yawned as he walked into the shower. The old bathtub he had before had been taken out due to him having trouble getting in and out of it, but now he had a pretty impressive shower, it allowed the hot water to fall around him like rain, the steam effect warmed his legs, easing the joints in his ankle. He got out and dressed in warm clothing as he made his way down the steps. From her bed in the corner of the living room, Lilly struggled to get it, slowly she rose, her face was full of white fur to match the grey in Chuck’s hair. She couldn’t get up the stairs anymore and as she slowly padded her way over to greet Chuck good morning she wobbled side to side, finally arriving by his side. Chuck reached down to rub her ears as a black cat jumped up on the kitchen counter, meowing to be fed. Jinx was the latest of Chuck’s rescued gang, nobody wanted him because he was fully black, which baffled Chuck. Humans were so odd, an animal’s pigments didn’t mean they belonged to witches, he knew plenty of witches in the past who had animals of all colours. Chuck fed them before going to work, Lilly no longer could manage the walk to the Gas N Sip so she and Jinx kept each other company and looked after the house while he was gone.

Seasons passed and came around again.   
Chuck allowed the tears to run down his face as he looked at pictures of Lilly on his phone. He had just scattered her ashes around the stream. It had been her favourite place to walk during summer. He had found her passed away in her bed the week before, he knew she had been old, even for a blue heeler. He sobbed harder because he didn’t know where she would have gone after death, the pets in heaven before had been just echoes of people’s memories. He had wished he had set up an afterlife for animals too in that moment, but looking back he never even considered people’s pets worthy of a place in his kingdom after they had served their purpose. 

Was it normal for one to hurt so badly?   
His back hurt, his legs cramped and his feet always felt cold, even after a warm shower. There was always tingling in his hands and his ankles had swelled up. He couldn’t even eat Nacho Cheese anymore without getting crippling stomach pains. He fed Jinx on the kitchen counter now because he couldn’t bend down anymore without pain and he leaned on a walking stick to walk as his balance was slightly off.   
He was old now, he had always been old, he had been there since the start of time, but now his body looked old, he also felt old.   
He had giving away his guitar when his fingers would no longer move effortless over the strings. Jinx purred at him and rubbed her head on his bony wrists, even she was getting on now, Chuck had never got another dog because he couldn’t cope with walking one. He had also stopped trying to message Amara over a phone because his fingers could never hit the right buttons and his vision was not so good, even with his glasses. He, however, did pray to her each night, sure it wouldn’t be long now until he would no longer be there to pray to her.

Jinx left the cottage and didn’t come back that morning, nor was she around the next day. Nor for the rest of the week.  
Chuck didn’t know where she had gone.   
There was a knock on his cabin door and the door opened  
“Hello Chuck” Came the smiling girl who now worked at the Gas N Sip, she had a copy of his key and had been checking in on him for the last three years. She always ensured he had food for himself and Jinx. He had met her during his last years at Gas N Sip before he retired, but he could never remember her name. It would come to him and then go again.   
“Have you seen the cat?” He asked her. He was sitting on a high rising chair which was easier for his legs to stand up in, the days of hot tubs and comfy sofas were long past.   
“I haven’t seen her, but I will keep looking”   
Chuck had hopped for better news  
“When I created cats, I noticed how private they were when they were dying, they wanted to be alone…”  
The girl ignored his comment about him creating cats. Chuck often said odd things to her, he had told her a few months ago that God had been a fan of folk music once and ran a cat blog. He was such a sweet old man.  
“Chuck, I’m sure she is fine. I will go call her name again along the path and see if I can see her, she is just probably hunting birds”   
Chuck nodded his agreement. 

Six months of looking for Jinx passed, and Chuck felt worse than ever.   
He was having heart palpitations and he had even more tingles and shooting pains through his hands. His vision felt bright when he opened his eyes, but he was so tired he couldn’t keep them open for too long. He couldn’t get out of bed today, he wasn’t feeling so good.  
The girl was back, he remembered her name today, it was Abigail.   
She had found Chuck still in bed, feeling too dizzy to move.  
“I’m going to phone an ambulance for you, is that ok? I just want to be safe”   
Chuck didn’t open his eyes  
“It’s okay. I understand what’s coming and it’s okay…I’ve done …terrible things and soon I will face God, I just …hope…my grandson will see I’ve changed”   
Chuck’s breathing was getting really heavy, as though Jinx was sitting on his chest  
“It’s ok, there’s an ambulance coming”   
“Just stay please” Chuck said, he felt tired, he wanted to be free from this feeling. He had never felt this exhausted without being able to rest in all his existence.  
“You’ll be ok. There’s some people to help you, they say they will be here soon” He heard her pacing the room, looking out of the window to see the road by the house.  
“Hey” Chuck mumbled “There’s a heaven, for real, I made it myself. You don’t have to fear anything…” He coughed “It’s all okay”   
So this was the end.  
He could feel his heartbeat fluttering in his chest, it felt like the sound had been turned down on the world, there was a slight pressure in his head. His breathing didn’t feel automatic anymore, but more like each breath was forced.   
“Am I going to hell?” He managed to get out “Empty?”  
“You aren’t going anywhere” Abigail said “You’ll feel better soon”   
Abigail. Abigail. Why did that name sound familiar to him?   
“Abigail” Chuck said out loud.   
“I am here” She said.   
Chuck opened his eyes to look at her, but Abigail wasn’t there anymore.  
“Sis?” Chuck asked, unsure if he was really seeing things.  
His vision was so blurry now, but standing over his bed was a figure with long brown hair and golden clothing.   
“Amara?” Chuck asked again. He tried to reach out for her but his arm wouldn’t move. He had lost all feeling in his arms.   
“A-Ma..” He tried again, but his mouth stopped trying to form the words as his heart stopped beating. Chuck froze in fear for a second as he felt himself slip away into nothingness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lilly is based on Rob Benedict's real dog <3


	6. Chapter 6

“Ahh” Chuck gasped, making panicked noises as he clutched his hand into his chest to feel a heartbeat and there it was.

Beat. Beat. Beat.

Still gasping, Chuck became aware of the noises he was making, he knew his eyes were wide and staring, he reached up and touched his lips, feeling the air passing from his nostrils.  
“I’m alive?” He asked. “I’m alive…I’m not dead?”   
He was sitting on the floor of a pure white room that was glowing and radiating power. He knew this room so well, having sat in it to receive prayers from humanity. He was in heaven, in the throne room. He spun around on the ground to face the chair, it was empty, they was nobody there but him and the faint hum of heaven. Right now he felt like crying, he wasn’t in hell, he wasn’t in the Empty, this was more than he deserved.   
With a moan of relief, Chuck flopped down to lay on the floor, he lifted his hands over his face and held them there for a little while. Black nothingness wasn’t going to be his end after all, he was home.   
“Hello brother” came Amara’s voice above him.   
Chuck lowered his hands to look at his sister, she was standing over him, wearing a golden sparkling pant suit and she looked amazing while he probably looked a mess.  
“Amara” He said softly “I missed you”   
He sat up, noticing he was wearing all white, ugh, he hated it, even his converse were white, it was too tidy, too Lordly. His pants, his t-shirt, the cardigan over his top, all white to match the white room.  
“Did you dress me?” He asked.  
“Did you want to wear your bed clothes?” She replied with the type of sass he had really missed.  
“You picked well” He told her.   
She waited while he got to his feet, he was still a bit shaky, and thirsty, lucky there was water waiting for him on the desk, he leaned against it as he drank, looking around fully. It was exactly as he had left it, there was no sign of his grandson anywhere, no angels, nothing.  
“So” He began, not really wanting to have this conversation “What now? What happens next? I’m here, in heaven, do I stay here now in my own room, or…” He swallowed, he knew heaven had a jail, he had made it for any angelic being he needed to lock up.   
“That is up to you” Amara said, she looked solemn all of a sudden. His warm feeling of relief vanished.   
There was the unmistakable sound of wings behind him and a familiar presence washed over him.   
Chuck froze, his blood ran cold. His mouth, despite the water he had just drank, went bone dry and Chuck found himself unable to speak or even turn to look behind him.   
No matter how many times he had played this out in his head during his shifts at the Gas N Sip, it didn’t prepare him at all for the moment he came face to face with Jack for real.  
“Hi Jack” Chuck finally managed to get out.   
Jack stared at him, it was if his blue eyes were looking right through Chuck, it was not a friendly gaze at all. It was a furious cold piercing glare that would have ripped through Chuck if he could. His grandson had taken his seat on the throne of heaven and Chuck was struck with how regal Jack looked upon there. His hair was combed in a way that was much different from how he had it before and there was an ancient power shinning out from behind Jack’s eyes and Chuck recognised it as his own Light.   
He could feel it.  
He could only describe it as having a limb cut off and somebody else was wearing it. He could see it inside Jack, he could almost sense the Light reaching out to him, wanting to be back in its true vessel. Chuck closed his eyes tight and opened them again, he knew what this was going to be.  
His trial. 

Chuck swallowed as he looked at his grandson  
Jack didn’t speak. He was watching Chuck’s ever move while not blinking much, it had been years since Chuck had last seen him, yet the young man sitting upon his throne looked ancient.  
“What is going on?” Chuck asked, looking from Jack to his sister  
“You have two choices, and Jack is in agreeance with both. You will either take back the Light from Jack and start your penance under my rule, that is we shall merge. You with the Light, me with the Darkness, you shall be absorbed into me and together we shall use our powers to better the world, to defend it from anything that threatens it. The second option is heaven’s jail. You didn’t think you were getting off lightly did you? You will be held in there for all time, powerless, diminished, abandoned, very much like what you did to me, but with more space to move. So pick, which will it be? Will you merge with me, lose your free will, your agency to function as a person or a being, give up your pleasures to better humanity and creation through my ongoing devotion to the world you abandoned, or will you rot in jail for evermore? Pick” 

Amara looked right at Chuck, so was Jack.   
Chuck stood rooted on the spot, what had he been expecting? To be warmly welcomed back after everything he had done? He thought when he had seen this place that he would be forgiven, but this was only the start of his punishment. Either way he was going to be locked away, either in his sister or in a cell. He wouldn’t be him anymore, he would just be light consumed by Amara, she would have total control over him, he would be simply no more than a swell of light within Amara’s darkness. Being in a cell meant he would still be him, but eternity sitting on a stone ledge in a cell no bigger than a few feet wide and long was his idea of horror. He closed his eyes for a second, he never wanted to merge with Amara, even the first time she had proposed it. He loved being with her before, him and her entwined into each other, always connected, always together. He was her and she was him. He had experienced independence since then, the ability to walk the earth as himself, to be as himself. To go back to being one with Amara, and to have Amara in charge of him, it was suffocating. It was more than he could bare.  
And he had subjected her to it.   
She had never complained. She was crying at that time, and he had taken advantage of her tears to force her into complying with him. He had absorbed her and used her power to do terrible things, would he have ever let her go free once he had killed the Winchesters? No, he would have kept her with him, used her powers to create anything he wanted and she would never have been able to stop him.   
He deserved this.   
He felt his eyes burn, his chest felt heavy as he took in a deep breath, his heartbeat in his chest beating away as he licked his lips, all these sensations and movements would soon be taken from him, to be replaced by Amara.   
She was looking at him for an answer.   
“I will do it” He said in a defeated voice “I will become one with you”   
Amara examined his face for a moment “You would give up everything forevermore to become part of me?”   
He nodded  
“Yes”   
“Your earthly pleasured, your freedom, all for ever?” She asked  
He nodded again  
“It’s what I deserve” He said quietly.   
Amara lifted her head ever so slightly  
“Then I accept” She said regally, then she turned to Jack “Are you ready?”   
She spoke softly to Jack, her voice full of affection, Chuck noticed it, they must have really bonded while he wasn’t here.  
“Yes” Jack spoke at last. Chuck noticed his tone was slightly different, more mature now. Chuck wasn’t surprised, Jack must have been around forty now in human years, he had grown up under the supervision of Amara. He was much more mature and even the way he sat was not how he remembered Jack, he was no longer the awkward three year old sitting on Chuck’s throne feeling out of place. Now Jack sat relaxed, but as if he was born to sit on such a throne, he commanded that seat with such posture he could have only gotten from Amara.   
“First though” Amara said “You owe him an apology”   
Chuck nodded, he suspected this, they had him concerned, might as well humble him more.  
“I’m sorry” Chuck said to Jack “The way I acted towards you was wrong”   
Amara was still watching Chuck  
“That is your God. You want his forgiveness you will ask for it on bended knee”   
Chuck’s breathe caught in this chest. Total humiliation then.   
He knew what he needed to do, it made him feel so small, which he guessed was the exact point. He walked slowly towards the throne he used to sit on and stopped, he got down on his knees and looked Jack in the eye as Jack looked down upon him with a look as cold as the ice within his father.  
“Forgive me Jack. I-I was wrong trying to get the Winchesters to kill you. I was wrong trying to kill you. You were my grandson and I should have cared for you from the start. You were my family, the child of my most cherished son and I pushed you away, just like I did to my own children. How I’ve treat you, treat them, it’s unforgiveable and if I could take it all back I would have, this I swear in front of you, my Lord”   
The last words made him look down in total shame. This was the lowest point that he had ever fallen too, left cowering in front of his own seat, in his own throne room, in his own kingdom. 

Above him, Jack spoke.   
“And is that your truth or are these more lies from your mouth?”  
Chuck was facing the floor, but hearing that voice he held his breath and closed his eyes. His head sunk lower in total shame as his past actions threatened to overcome him.  
“I am so sorry” Chuck now said, his eyes tearing up, and even his lips shook. He felt like he was going to be sick. What a cruel trick they had played on him.   
Chuck looked up and met the furious eyes not of his grandson, but of his first-born son.   
“Michael, forgive me” Chuck pleaded. His eyes searching his son’s face, but where once Chuck had seen totally devotion, now he seen nothing but murderous hatred.   
Michael considered his father for a moment, no wonder he sat so well upon the throne, he had been forced too for such a long time when his father abandoned heaven, he got up and as he walked passed Chuck he muttered  
“It will take more than just words for me to forgive you, but I accept your apology”. His eyes still said otherwise and Chuck found himself looking away from them. It hurt to see so much anger there.  
He took one more look at his father and then nodded to his aunt as he walked out of the room, leaving Chuck covering his face with his hands.  
Amara didn’t speak, but she reached down to touch Chuck’s shoulders as he calmed down  
“Jack brought him back, they are all back, all the angels. Raphael doesn’t wish to speak with you, Gabriel and Lucifer are indifferent”.   
Chuck got off his knees and sat on the floor, this had all been a test to see if he really had changed. Before he would have killed them all rather than beg at their feet.   
“Did I pass?” He asked  
“I guess you did” She said.  
“He must hate me. What I did to him” Chuck said, he was shaken up. Looking into those pale blue eyes of his son once more after he himself had torn his child apart had really brought home how ashamed he was of everything he had done in the past.   
“He was adamant he would be the first to speak with you” Amara looked back to the door where Michael had left “When Jack brought him back from the empty, he was going to seek you out right there but I forbade him, you did not have your power and he knew it”  
Chuck stood up at last, he swallowed as her words became clear to him.  
“He would have killed me” He said quietly   
Amara nodded.   
“It’s why I kept him away and why I ordered him to remain in heaven” 

Amara showed Chuck heaven after that. He had wanted to remain in the throne room, but perhaps his sister knew he was trying to shut himself away already, as she forced him to accompany her on her walk.   
“Huh?” Chuck asked as his feet left the even white stone flooring to turn into grass. They had turned a corner and ahead of them was a bright light  
“Where are all the souls?” He asked in confusion, looking around but seeing no doors  
“You’ll see” Amara spoke as they moved closer to the light, Chuck hesitated for a second before following her into what he believed was earth, but this was still heaven. All around him was blue sky, paths leading everyway, mountains in the distance and even shops, schools, and houses. There was even a fast food outlet with a drive-thru, souls inside of shadow cars.  
“What the hell-“ Chuck gasped in horror.  
Amara shrugged with a smile  
“Heaven needed revamping”   
As Chuck watched, an angel walked in the distance and a soul waved at them as the angel made their rounds checking up on the other souls  
“Amara, what did you do, you let them all out?” Chuck asked, he didn’t know what he felt seeing all these souls free roaming in heaven. “It was so ordered before, a room for each soul. It’s all messed up, it was so tidy before, I -“  
“Sush” Amara cut him off “Trust me on this, this way is better, watch”  
As Chuck watched, a soul of a young child ran out of a brush and ran to his sister who was feeding ducks in a pond, they both looked over and the little girl waved shyly at Amara.  
“They are happy” She said “All souls in the paradise that was promised. Nobody was together in the old system. Reliving happy memories is not paradise Chuck. Jack did this, he brought all the walls down to reunite loved ones and friends, but also for the angels. Look at how happy your children are, surrounded by the souls of humanity who they love”  
“How do you know where any one soul is?”   
Amara thought for a second  
“I know where everybody is” Was all she just said. 

They walked more. Amara wanted to show Chuck something he needed to see.  
“This will make more sense to you if you see it”   
Chuck stopped with Amara, they had arrived somewhere that looked like a large public garden on the outskirts of a large city. Heaven always stretched on infinitely, but now it felt unnaturally large.  
“While you were human, you were never truly alone” Amara confessed “I had some of your children accompany you without your knowledge. They all did it on their own wishes, they wanted to save you from yourself”   
Chuck had guessed it before she had even spoken, for standing in front of him was Lilly wagging her tail at him and Jinx pawing the ground beside her. Standing by them in the stiff way only angels could stand was Chuck’s old pastor friend and Abigail from the Gas N Sip.   
Chuck could see them truly for the first time, he knew who these angels were, he had made each of them  
“Hi guys” He said, a lump in his throat as he looked upon the people who had made such a big impact upon him as a human.   
“I’m sorry for deceiving you father” The had been fake pastor said, Chuck knew him as Paschar.   
“It’s…Fine” Chuck spoke, Lilly barked, and Chuck really wanted to go over and stroke her, but this wasn’t a dog and never had been, he could see the being pretending to be his ex dog, it was Shoshana who had once walked the earth guiding humanity under his orders. He should have guessed, her name partly mean Lilly.   
Feeling really awkward, Chuck smiled at them one last time and walked on. Part of him wanted to rage to his sister. She had him followed! Without him knowing! However part of him knew what this had also meant. Amara had never left him alone. He had been protected all along and that outweighed any embarrassment he felt.   
“Thank you all” Amara told the group “You may go and be with the souls here”  
She went to join her brother, who had already put some ground between them.

“I let her sleep in my bed…” Chuck whispered loudly to his sister as he shook his head and side eyed Amara as she caught up. “She once licked my butt when I got out of the shower. She’s seen me NAKED Amara. Gross, gross oh gross, I created her”  
“Its not her fault” Amara said. “She was simply asked to play a convincing dog in order to keep you safe while you remained unaware. What she may or may not have done was part of her cover”.  
Chuck slowly found himself more at ease as he walked on, angels called out to him with glee and souls watched curiously, something started playing on him, a sensation growing larger. He swallowed and looked at Amara but she kept walking, arriving by a low hanging tree, its branches hanging down to create the most beautiful sight nature could offer. Mist hung in the air as the sun rose in the sky. They had walked so far through heaven a new day had started. There were no souls here, something seemed to keep them away, but the odd angel sat around, some in groups talking and some on their own. As Chuck approached the low hanging tree he noticed somebody was leaning against it.   
Gabriel was in his original form, not looking like the pagan god he had once pretended to be. Chuck found his heart swelling as he took in Gabriel’s original features, his perfect rose gold toned hair, his soft features and his lean frame, Chuck has made him much thinner than his brothers as he was perfect for speed rather than brawl.   
He seen Chuck coming and he opened his mouth as if he wanted to speak, then closed it again, unsure what to say. His expression was unreadable, but he looked troubled.   
“Hello Gabriel” Chuck said “I know sorry isn’t good enough after everything I’ve done but I hope-“  
Chuck stopped as Gabriel moved from the tree and placed his arms around his father in a hug that felt warm, but still not as warm as it could have been. Chuck held his son, relieved that somebody here still accepted him.  
Gabriel pulled away and looked at his dad  
“I shouldn’t have ran away… You needed me here, but why didn’t you come back?”  
“I have no words” Chuck said “My actions were not befitting of being your father, never mind asking to be called God. I only hope in time I can find the answers you need. I will be here for you now though, if you wish?”  
Behind Gabriel stood Lucifer, Chuck felt hopeful that Lucifer would also accept him back, they had been on good terms the last time they had seen each other, but now Lucifer was holding back, and Chuck seen why almost at once.   
He was guarding his son, for standing behind Lucifer was Jack, the real Jack.   
Chuck could feel the Light coming from him, the real light. No wonder there was no souls around here, the power coming from Jack would give any soul a headache.  
Chuck looked between Lucifer and Jack, he could almost sense Lucifer’s unease at having his father so close to his son.  
“Pops” Lucifer said in greeting  
“Son” Chuck spoke, his eyes flickering over to Jack for a second. The Nephilim was watching him exactly how he had so many years ago. He hadn’t changed at all; he was still wearing the same clothing. The air around him appeared to sway with energy, this child was the only thing Chuck had ever feared,   
“Jack, when you’re ready” Amara said.  
Chuck was confused. What was going on?  
“Not happening” Lucifer said. He stood in front of Jack, his arms crossed.   
Chuck was surprised by this, he never had Lucifer down as protective over his child, just what else had changed since he had been gone?  
“It’s fine Dad” Jack said, he had been waiting for them. His auntie had spoken to him a lot about what would happen when his grandfather returned. Jack trusted Amara, if she said it was ok, he trusted her.   
Lucifer looked like he wanted to object, but he stepped aside as Jack walked closer to Chuck, who took a step backwards. He was coming too close. Far too close. He looked sideways at Amara in alarm but all she did was watch as Jack passed Lucifer and Gabriel and headed right to Chuck. He took an automatic step back in alarm as Jack reached up and grabbed his face again.   
His eyes glowed silver white and Chuck gasped in horror.

There was a rushing feeling and then…

Jack let go, Chuck blinked, he could feel it. The light was back within him. Chuck touched his own face, gasping, he took another step away from Jack, still convinced the Nephilim was going to attack him.   
“You – you give me my power back?” Chuck asked him.   
Jack held eye contract with Chuck, who almost looked away.   
“Only because Amara asked” He said.   
It was hard to tell if Jack was being friendly, his voice was even but Chuck had heard him speaking to people he loved, and it wasn’t has controlled as this. All Chuck wanted was to get out of there.   
“Thank you Jack, I will keep to our promise” Amara assured her nephew with a smile.  
“What promise?” Chuck asked  
Amara smiled “We are going to correct all the things wrong with the world. Heaven has found paradise, as above so below as you like to say brother. Now we bring paradise to earth”   
That surprised Chuck  
“And we’re doing that together?” He asked, shocked they would just allow him to use his powers again  
“Oh no” and now Amara smiled even more “No brother, you are going to be under my guidance. You won’t so much as straighten a flower unless I tell you”.  
Ah. There was a catch to this. He would have groaned but Jack was still less than a foot away from him. 

Climate change, war, corruption, a few hundred of Crowley’s most outrageous deals cleaned up later and Chuck sat on a mountain looking over at the sunsetting as Amara commented on the last few things on their almost endless list. Years had passed again, but Chuck had been so busy with Amara fixing the world and changing things for the better. He never wanted to admit it, but Amara had fixed things which he never could have figured out. They had just worked together to bring back a breed of bird which had been extinct, its purpose in nature had been vital but Chuck had forgotten all about them over the eons. They would let humanity know about the bird in due time, but for now it would remain high up on this mountain, provided for in safety where it could multiply until its kind were ready to rejoin the rest of creation.  
There was the sound of wings next to Chuck and Jack sat down next to him  
“I did it!” He said proudly, showing Chuck his latest Lego creation of Star Wars’ Millennium Falcon.   
“Careful you don’t drop it off the mountain” Chuck warned cautiously as Jack started flying it, making gun noises.   
“My father would murder me, he spent over 6 months making this with me”   
"That is Cas right?" Chuck asked making sure, even now, telling Jack's dad and Jack's father apart was hard work.  
"Yep" Jack confirmed.  
Chuck smiled, he and Jack had oddly bonded over the years, both never spoke about the past much as it was awkward for the both of them, meaning Chuck still didn’t know a few things after Jack had taken his powers. Amara refused to tell him anything also, she would say Chuck needed to move on, not linger on the past. There was something however Chuck needed to know.   
“Jack” He said quietly, as Amara was feeding the birds “What happened to them…To Sam and Dean”   
Jack stiffened up, his Millennium Falcon falling from the air and Chuck caught it before it landed on the floor  
“I don’t want to talk about it” Jack reached out and took his Lego ship back from Chuck “I have got to go. My father wants me home for dinner. See you next week for coffee?”   
Chuck nodded “Yeah sure, same time”   
With the sound of wings, Jack took flight.   
Chuck sighed.   
What had happened to Sam and Dean? What was it everybody kept from him? He couldn’t guess anymore so he brought it up with Amara.   
“Jack wont talk about it because it upsets him” she had once told him “After you lost your power, they lived their lives free and without your interference… And without your power keeping them safe, their ending was sad”  
Tonight though was different. Amara finally told him.  
The sun set as Amara told Chuck the whole story. His two favourite humans had ended their story like that. Not even Metatron would have ended it like that.   
“Where are Sam and Dean now?” He asked  
Amara shook her head  
“No. You need to keep away from them, they are at peace, with their parents and family. Not even Jack or Castiel goes to them, they stay away because of how things ended between Jack and them, even to this day, Jack doesn’t go near Mary Winchester or her sons”   
Chuck sat in silence. This was all wrong. This wasn’t how their stories should have ended. He knew he shouldn’t be thinking these thoughts anymore, these were people, not story characters, but Chuck knew, in his heart, that everything that played out had played out wrong.  
“Amara. We need to fix this. This is all wrong.”

Amara considered him for a moment  
“What did you have in mind brother?”


	7. Chapter 7

“God…I don’t know where you are. I don’t know if you can hear me. But please, Sam, Dean – We need you. Please”  
Chuck’s eyes snapped open. Castiel’s voice echoed in his head. He looked around him, he was in Reno, people packed the paths, cars moved slowly across the road and all around him tall buildings with bright flashing lights advertised high payment slot machines. He knew which year this was, 2019. He had jumped almost one hundred years back in time, to the point in time he identified as a mistake that had placed him on the path he had just lived. Chuck swallowed and looked up at the tall buildings. In one of the biggest hotels, Amara was up there, yet he had just left her in the future. She knew all about him jumping back to this time and she would be watching him carefully, he could just imagine a pair of brown eyes looking down at him.   
Chuck knew what he needed to do.

Jack was running, he stopped as he reached the outskirts of the town just in time to watch a police car rush past him, heading in the direction of his ex-friendship group, the lights flashing and the siren screaming out.  
He had done this.  
What if those teenagers told Sam and Dean?   
Would Sam and Dean believe them?  
Would they be angry?   
No. No. Sam and Dean would believe him. Not them.   
It was an accident.  
It was her fault; she had run out into the knife. It was her fault.  
Sam and Dean didn’t have to know. He could just lie.  
Lying was bad.   
But lying would mean Sam and Dean won’t be angry with him.   
Jack stumbled down behind a low wall. He had hurt that girl. He didn’t mean to hurt her, why did he hurt that girl? Why does he always hurt people.  
He drew his legs up and held himself, rocking slightly back and forwards. Sam and Dean may not be back for days, they were on a hunt, this would all calm down before they got back. Stacy couldn’t say anything to the police, they wouldn’t believe her about an angel knife flying in the air, there was no wound, he had healed her. Nobody would come looking for him? Maybe she wouldn’t approach Sam and Dean. It’s all fine. It’s fine.   
Jack was still rocking and staring ahead, it was dark now and nobody really knew him here. Nobody had seen what he did…  
“Hey Jack” Came a man’s voice above him.   
Jack looked up fast and scrambled to his feet, adrenaline pumping through him. Was this a demon? An Angel? He didn’t hear wings so it must be demon, but the man radiated power, Jack felt his skin tingling from the moment this man appeared. Jack raised his hand, ready to use his powers if he needed to protect himself.  
“Easy Jack” The man said. He looked calm, but uneasy. Was that fear in the man’s eyes? Was he afraid of Jack too?   
“Who are you?” Jack asked, his voice shaking.   
The man looked at Jack for a second, and then he smiled, and Jack seen his face was kind and warm.  
“I’m your grandfather” 

Dean pulled open the bunker’s door, he was worn out and needed to crash, that hunt had been a weird one, tree monster goop still lingered in his noise. He needed a shower, so did Sam next to him.  
They both came down the stairs and down into the control room. Dean dropped his bag onto the table as Sam walked up into the library, no doubt looking to catch up with Jack, things happened been so good for the kid lately and Dean was sure he was hiding a lot from them. He didn’t want to go to deep into it with Jack, but he and Sam had promised they would do better by the kids from now on. The kid had been reading his zombie book when they left him, and Dean knew from experience could be there for days when he got into a really good book.  
“Hey kid. We’re back. You still at it?” Dean called as he walked up the stairs himself and then stopped, for leaning against one of the tables, raising a hand in a wave, was none other than Chuck Shurley.   
“Chuck?” Sam said, looking from God to Jack, who wasn’t meeting his eyes, but looking away. “Is everything ok... Jack?”   
There was no doubt about it, Jack was not meeting their eyes, he was rubbing his elbow in a subconscious way.  
“Jack?” Dean asked, he moved closer to Jack. “What’s wrong with him?”   
Dean looked at Chuck for answers. Chuck glanced over at Jack and then back to Dean  
“Oh he’s just readjusting. Having a soul put back in a body takes time” Chuck shrugged, slightly unconcerned.  
“His soul is back?” Sam asked, he walked over to Jack who still averted his gaze. He was now fidgeting with his fingers  
“Don’t lose it again” Chuck advised, he looked pale, almost sick.   
“Souls aren’t easy to put back. I helped myself to your health shakes, there was no beer in” Chuck confessed.   
Dean looked at Jack  
“You forgot the beer?”   
Sam glared at Dean and shock his head, mouthing ‘Not the time’  
“I don’t have ID” Came Jack’s voice quietly  
“You have plenty of ID” Dean reminded him  
“They’re all fake” Jack replied.   
“I would get you some beer, but I don’t feel good” Chuck said. Sam went right to Chuck. He had always felt a connection to Chuck, helping him feel better just a few years ago when Amara almost killed him.  
“I will get you some water. Thanks Chuck, for Jack” Sam made little praying hands for a moment that made Chuck smile.  
“It’s fine. He’s family Afterall”  
Oh. If only they knew how the other timeline played out.   
Once Chuck had recovered a little and Dean got his beer, Chuck explained why he was here.   
With a click of his fingers, Castiel was standing right in front of him, looking shocked at first by the sudden chance of senary and then he eyed his father carefully before him  
“God?” He asked, he looked hopeful at Jack for a moment  
“Hi Castiel. I heard your prayer”   
Castiel looked at Jack for confirmation, he rushed over to Jack and looked into his face. The small smile on Jack’s face and his eyebrows all scrunched up told him everything he needed to know.  
“Thank you” Castiel told his father, who shrugged as if it wasn’t any big deal  
“It’s nothing really, we can’t have a nephilm running around with no soul” Chuck laughed lightly “He may change the natural order of things or become God himself”  
Oh if only they knew.  
Dean snored.  
“Jack as God? That’s not a good idea. He’ll form nougat cults”   
“I am actually here to for reasons other than Jack”   
That sobered up the room  
“What’s wrong?” Asked Dean “Is it Amara?”   
“No no” Chuck shook his head “Dear sis is fine, she’s in Reno, she loves the spas and the slots. No this is something else. It’s Billie. Watch out for her. She’s bad news. If she comes looking for you again in the future, grab her scythe and just cut her down. Trust me”   
Sam, Dean and Cas exchanged looks, Chuck didn’t seem to be joking.   
“There’s another thing” Chuck walked closer to Castiel “As a father I’ve been rubbish. Let me make it up to you. Your arrangement with the Empty is null and void, and for me sake Cas, be honest with yourself. If you already know his answer, just tell him how you feel”  
Castiel went pale. He opened his mouth. Closed it and then blinked.  
“What? What does he mean Cas?” Dean asked, as Castiel looked like he was going to be sick  
“It’s…Dean I need to speak with you” Castiel looked horrified. “I need to speak with you alone”  
Chuck now approached Sam, he was looking at Sam’s shoulder for a second. Sam didn’t realise it, but Chuck was looking at where the wound once connected them was. He had handled all that wrong too.  
He handed Sam a phone and Sam took it into his hand, looking confused  
“When it rings, pick it up” Was all Chuck said to him.  
A few hours later. Dean sat in the kitchen in shock.   
He drank the extra strong coffee and put it on the table.  
Castiel was in love with him.  
Cas, his best friend, was in love with him.   
He smiled. That stupid child couldn’t raise himself from hell without falling in love with him.   
Dean didn’t know where this would go. He loved Cas too, but as a brother, as a best friend, as a -   
Just what was Cas to him? His own angel? His guardian? His family. He had time to sort out his thoughts. Castiel wasn’t expecting an answer any time soon, the angel just seemed happy telling Dean his feelings and Dean had hugged him. He couldn’t find the words to say anything back to the angel, shock kept his words from coming, so Dean showed the angel he cared by hugging him. How were you meant to react when your best friend tells you such big news about them they had kept to themselves for years. No matter, it was Cas and Dean would always be there for him. 

Chuck was singing in the shower. Dean had groaned when he heard him, remembering the last time Chuck had stayed over. Sometimes Dean wished he could shoot him. Dean considered if it was even possible to shoot God, probably not.  
The silence was broken by Sam screaming Dean’s name.   
Dean shot up and ran to where Sam was leaning against the wall.   
“SAM?” He shouted back.  
Jack had rushed out of his room, now dressed in pyjamas, haven fully recovered from regaining his soul. Sam was clutching a phone in his hand, Dean looked at him and then down at the screen.   
It was Eileen.   
“Eileen!” Dean shouted, without thinking she couldn’t hear him  
“Hello Dean” Eileen spoke, having lipread.   
“Eileen. How are you alive?” Sam asked, trying to sign the words. Dean quickly took the phone from Sam and held it up so his brother and Eileen could sign to each other.   
“She said she was suddenly in the woods again… She was in hell and then she was back….Dean is this Chuck’s doing?”   
“Eileen, stay where you are” Sam signed to her and spoke “I’m coming to pick you up, okay?”   
“Okay” She replied.   
Dean knocked on the shower room door  
“Chuck” He called  
Chuck ignored him and carried on singing. He knew they had received his ‘peace offerings’, he thought for a moment Sam and Dean would never know what he had put them through, so maybe they wanted answers. He wouldn’t give them, best they part friends, none the wiser to the things he had seen playing out.

Sam arrived home with Eileen a few hours later and Dean and Castiel smiled normally at each other when Cas re-entered the liberty later, he had wanted space after telling Dean his feelings.  
Chuck was feeding Jack pancakes at one of the tables, he then provided them all with pancakes as there were quite a few hungry people there.  
“Remember when I made these the first time around, I think I’m even better at making them now. I created all these ingredients too. Hello Eileen” He loaded more on top of Jack’s overflowing plate  
“Gosh kid, you can eat”   
Dean looked suspiciously over at Chuck, something seemed off here. Since when did anything play out so well for them? What was Chuck up too  
“We need to talk about that” Chuck said, as if reading Dean’s mind.  
Dean looked up.  
“Lately, it came to my attention I’ve sort of screwed up. Things have happened since we last met. I’ve discovered things about myself, places I’ve gone wrong during creation. There’s things I am ashamed off, but I’ve since came to terms with all that and as Amara would say, I’m becoming my better self. She has helped me a lot to see where I’ve been wrong in the past”   
Chuck paused   
“I need to correct some things, I’ve already corrected things, but I need to tell you that I’m opening the cage later today and letting Michael and Adam out. Then I’m bringing Lucifer, Raphael and Gabriel back. All the angels in the empty. Don’t worry -” He said, after seeing their horror. “- I will keep them all away from you guys. I’ve seen a better heaven, we’re going to be busy restoring heaven to something better, for angels and souls. None of my children will bother you down here.”   
After that, Chuck got ready to leave the bunker, he looked around at the place and then looked one last time at Sam and Dean. This would be the last time he seen them, but if things stayed on the same path, they would be fine. They would never need to recall him. He would never kill Jack. Sam would never shoot him. They wouldn’t depart as enemies and he would never lose his powers.  
Behind him the door opened as Mary Winchester walked in from a hunt, looking confused at Chuck  
“Hello?” She asked.   
“Hello Mary” He said and smiled. The Winchesters would never know what would have happened had Jack continued soulless, he had taken them off that path.   
“Oh Mom…This is um…Chuck. He is God”  
Mary turned white.   
Chuck smiled in an embarrassed way. Why did Sam have to add in the god part?   
“I’m off now. Oh Dean, don’t get big-headed. Vampires are dangerous and should be taken serious no matter how many nests you have taken down before and avoid rebar, it’s terrible for buildings. Sam, be happy in your life, marry for love and don’t name your kid after your family members, its real cringe”   
He looked over at Jack now.  
“You’re a kid, so stay as one. You don’t need the whole weight of the world upon your shoulders. Throw a moderate tantrum once in a while, slam your bedroom door, sneak sweets into your room, hell take Dean’s car for a test run, just be a kid alright”   
Lastly, he looked at Castiel and smiled.  
“You have always been the one who never does as I asked… Never change that Castiel. It’s what I most respect you for”.  
With one last smile at Sam and Dean, Chuck left their lives for good. They would never see him again until they both died at an old age.  
As he left, Sam looked confused, which matched all of their feelings  
“Was he drunk?” Asked Castiel. 

Chuck looked up at the cage.  
His son was in there. The one he had killed with his own hands. Chuck didn’t know how he would even be able to look Michael in the eye, but this Michael was still alive and Chuck was determined he will stay like that.   
Chuck lifted his hand and clicked his fingers and watched as bar after bar fell down, freeing Michael and the human boy inside of him  
“Hello son. I’ve come back for you”  
Michael eyed the figure with suspicion. Adam in his head was asking questions but Michael had no idea what was happening  
“Father?”   
His voice was shaken with emotion. He always imagined what he would say should his father come back to him. He would be angry. He would rage. He would demand answers. He would -   
He stood and with unstable legs he stumbled over to his father, trying not to fall on the bars, and placed his arms around him, clutching his father to hold himself up.   
Chuck stroked Michael’s hair trying to soothe him.  
“Let’s go get your brothers”  
The empty had once told Castiel that God had no power in the empty. It was true, he didn’t, but while he was on earth he could pull beings back, if he had originally made them. Being creator of all he did. He couldn’t go physically into the empty himself, it was off limits to him, but if he had once made something, he could easy get it back.   
If the effort of giving Jack his soul back had made Chuck vomited horrifically into the Winchester’s bathroom for an hour, bringing all his children back from the empty would make him faint, so this would be a team effort. Amara was right by his side.  
Michael sat on a tree stump close by, he was shielding his eyes from the light and touching everything, including the tree he was sitting on. He was sniffing the air and fluttering his wings, he was a little disorientated from being in the cage for so long, but he would recover soon enough.   
“Ready?” Amara asked him. Chuck nodded.  
He took Amara’s hand and merged into her, becoming one with her. She was always more powerful than him. He showed her how to recall all his creation, all the heavenly host and three quite familiar condemned souls.   
They began.

The news readers said it was an earthquake. The bunker’s lights all flashed red as angelic presences entered earth. Over in England the British Men of Letters all scrabbled around in panic as alarm after alarm went off in their offices.   
Chuck and Amara unmerged just in time for Chuck to notice a familiar ex king of hell fleeing, thinking he had been let out by mistake, followed by Ruby and Meg who had similar ideas. They would be fine, Chuck knew, they were not a threat.   
The heavenly host were sent to heaven, Chuck knew they would be great confusion up there when dead siblings went to re-join their living siblings, but Chuck would go address heaven himself soon. First however…  
“Hello boys” Chuck smiled.   
Raphael looked from his brothers to his father. His dark hair all messy. His wings in a sorry state.  
“I thought you were dead?” He said to his father. Chuck shook his head sadly.  
“Whoa that is Amara” Gabriel observed, he hadn’t seen her since they locked her up, how awkward indeed. Was she going to attack them?  
Lucifer said nothing, he was glaring at Chuck and Chuck knew he had a lot of apologising to do – again.   
“We need talk” Chuck told them “Things are going to be different now”   
Michael stood, he wobbled over to stand by his father, compared to how bashed up the younger siblings looked, the fact Michael looked slightly worse made them feel slightly better.  
“Ok I suppose” Said Gabriel “But how? We all know it dad, you don’t hang around. You can’t say things are going to be better if we aren’t a family. We’ll just fight again. Michael and Lucifer can’t be in the same room as each other without trying to kill the other. Half of heaven hates Raphy, sorry bro, but it’s true, and I- I ran away. I’m not welcome back in heaven” Gabriel looked at Michael quickly. Michael just continued to look doleful and didn’t reply. 

“That’s why things will be different now” Chuck said. It seemed he had grown in the moment, or maybe he had been growing for years without knowing it “This time it’s for real. I am God and it’s time I acted like it. I created all of this and I used everything for my own entertainment. That ends now. I am more than God, I am also your father and you are my sons, my beautiful sons”   
He looked at each one of them, Lucifer almost avoided his eyes but met them like his brothers did  
“This time. I will be there for you. There will be no fighting between you. Michael and Lucifer will not kill each other. Raphael will not be forgotten, and Gabriel will never feel the need to run away again”  
Chuck held out his hand to his sons.   
“Let’s go home together”   
The four of them for a second looked at each other for confirmation, they looked over at Amara slightly hesitant, before slowly reaching out to their father. They were transported to heaven’s throne room which had expanded for miles in all directions. All the angels were in here, and voices shouted over each other. Angels questioning what was going on. Angels rejoicing as their friends appeared again before them. Shouts that Balthazar was stealing things. Castiel landed in next, looking confused as to why he was here. He was followed by Jack who turned his head, surprised to be among so many angels.   
“Cas?” He said  
Castiel held his hand onto Jack’s back.  
The voices went quite when the archangels flew in, now in their true forms. There was shock as the younger angels seen their older brothers take their normal places standing by the throne of God. Just what was going on?  
“You are improving at speeches brother” Amara observed  
“Give me strength” Chuck said “I have to address them all now. You are so coming with me”   
“Want me to hold your hand?” Amara teased  
“NO! Eww” Chuck said. Then he laughed with her. “Seriously though, what do I even say to them?”   
Up in heaven, a bright light started glowing and it got whiter and whiter until the angels had to look away. The talk and shouting that had calmed when the archangels arrived went into total silence.   
The angels quickly parted and made a walkway, and bowed their heads and kneeled on the ground, angels behind them quickly caught on as a sea of angelic beings bowed. Castiel tapped Jack’s back and they both got down on their knees too, Jack trying to peek up over other angels to see better.  
Chuck had reached the Archangels who bowed their heads but did not kneel. They were never asked to kneel to their father who loved them as actual children, heightening their class as archangels.   
Chuck looked at his throne. There was one for Amara there too. From now they would jointly run heaven. A God and a Goddess. He looked at the millions of angels all in this room. He knew every single one of them.   
He had run so many times from this throne, pretending he was not God, not the creator. He had run from his responsibility, but just as Gabriel had done, he had to stop running and come home.   
He sat on the throne.   
All around the earth, lightning flashed across the sky. Then it stopped as fast as it started.   
It was time to address the angels, four archangels and one nephilm in there somewhere. A new era had arrived, one where God was back. 

He was home.


End file.
